Truss announces 'toughest' ever sanction regime against Russia
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On Monday, European Commission Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis announced that the Russia-designed Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline has been put on hold while the Commission is looking into the project’s compliance with Europe’s energy policy. He also warned that the EU will do everything it can to ensure that Russia would not be able to use natural gas as a “weapon,” like they appear to have done over the last few months.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has been pushing for the certification for the pipeline, which will transit gas from Russia to Germany via the Baltic Sea.
While the Kremlin has argued that this can double Europe’s gas supply and ease the surging prices seen in recent months, critics argue that it will only give Mr Putin more control over global energy markets.
Over the past year, Russia has applied pressure on the EU by reducing its gas supply, causing an energy crisis on the continent, with gas prices reaching record highs.
In fact, for over 30 days running, Moscow has been diverting gas away from the East through the Yamal-Europe pipeline.
Last week, US President Joe Biden and his EU counterpart Ursula von der Leyen struck a deal to cooperate on alleviating Europe’s energy crisis by reducing its dependency on gas imported from Russia.
Their joint statement said: “The US and the EU are working jointly towards continued, sufficient, and timely supply of natural gas to the EU from diverse sources across the globe to avoid supply shocks, including those that could result from a further Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
The two world leaders have also pledged to cooperate on guaranteeing Ukraine’s security amid the standoff triggered by Russia amassing troops at Ukraine’s border.
Tensions between Russia and Ukraine reached new heights when Russian President Vladimir Putin amassed around 100,000 Russian troops near the border with Ukraine in recent months.
The show of military strength, which also includes a build-up of tanks, artillery and missiles, has sparked fears of an imminent invasion.
Mr Putin has consistently denied that Russia intends to invade its neighbour.
This retaliation by the EU against Russia has sparked fears that Mr Putin may decide to cut off the supply of gas to the continent entirely.
Politico reports this morning that this is a genuine “worst-case” scenario that Mr Putin could unleash.
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However, some experts believe that is unlikely as it will hit Russia economically.
Instead, they expect that Mr Putin will continue to keep gas supplies at their contractual minimum levels, maintaining pressure on Europe.
If Russia were to block the supply of gas to the continent entirely, then the EU reserve supplies would likely last till April.
This timeline could shorten to the end of March if Europe is hit by a harsh winter.
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