France ‘increased fuel imports from Russia’
Research firm says France bought discounted fuel as other nations cut deals following invasion
President Macron has been accused of betraying Ukraine after the release of figures showing French imports of Russian gas rose during the invasion. Russia made €93billion (£80billion) in fossil fuel exports in the first 100 days of the war, according to a report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. While Russian missiles hit Ukraine in April and May, France received 12 shipments of liquefied natural gas and other fossil fuels worth almost €900million.
EMMANUEL MACRON has been accused of betraying Ukraine after the release of figures showing French imports of Russian gas rose during the invasion.
Russia made €93 billion (£80 billion) in fossil fuel exports in the first 100 days of war in Ukraine, according to a report from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), an independent research organisation based in Finland.
The EU in total accounted for 61 per cent of Russia’s total fossil fuel exports – worth about €57billion, even as the bloc moved to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.
France, Belgium and the Netherlands had snapped up shipments of the Kremlin’s fossil fuels at discounted prices after other buyers cut back their purchases during the conflict, CREA said.
While Russian missiles and bombs were raining down on Ukraine in April and May, France received 12 shipments of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and other fossil fuel products worth almost €900 million, the report showed.
Lauri Myllyvirta, a CREA analyst, said: “France and Belgium stand out as buyers of Russian LNG on the spot market. As the EU is considering stricter sanctions against Russia, France has increased its imports to become the largest buyer of LNG in the world,” he said. “We estimate an 18 per cent increase from February-march to May, seasonally adjusted.”
Since most of these are spot purchases rather than long-term contracts, Mr Myllyvirta said, Paris is consciously deciding to use Russian energy following Moscow’s invasion. France’s energy ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Dmytro Natalukha, the head of the Ukrainian parliament’s economic affairs committee, told The Daily Telegraph: “The simple answer is, of course, this is not a way we consider how our allies should behave themselves.
“Those are actions that contradict the words, and provides a whole different context on the calls of the French president [Emmanuel Macron].
“It gives you some doubt over his real willingness to end this conflict in the best interests of Ukraine.”
Meanwhile, a Ukrainian presidential adviser said yesterday that Kyiv needs around 10 times more weapons from the West or it will suffer a crushing defeat in Ukraine’s east.
Mykhailo Podolyak, an adviser to Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, published a list of what Ukraine requires, including 1,000 howitzers and 300 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS). Just seven MLRS have been pledged by the UK and US together so far. Countries in central and Eastern Europe that have been arming Ukraine will soon no longer have anything to offer to Kyiv. Latvia’s foreign minister said last week that Eastern Europe had now largely run out of Soviet-made tanks and weapons to send to Ukraine and that Western Europe needed to step up production.
Michael Kofman, the director of Russia studies at CNA in Washington, yesterday described the fighting in the Donbas as “one of the most dangerous battlefield periods for war for Ukraine”.
In a piece for War on the Rocks, he said: “There’s a real challenge for Ukraine because they’re outmatched in terms of firepower if you look at artillery… and if you look at airpower.”
In its daily briefing, the Ministry of Defence yesterday said it expected river crossing operations around the eastern city of Severodonetsk to be a crucial moment in the course of the war.
“To achieve success in the current operational phase of its Donbas offensive, Russia is either going to have to complete ambitious flanking actions, or conduct assault river crossings,” the report said, pointing to the “key, 90-kilometre-long central sector” of Russia’s frontline on the west side of the Siversky Donets River.