The thriller for her is intensifying supply of Europe with Russian gas. Moscow is escalating the pressure, with him Russian giant Gazprom to leave the Germany and its activities subsidiary in London and Switzerland. THE Europe rejects Russian blackmailwhile the markets do not seem, – for the time being, to take in cash the threats of Vladimir Putin.
The Russian president does not take back a word from his threats to close the tap if Europe does not pay for the gas in rubles.
“Western countries have taken action and we have responded. I guess we will not have the same cooperation again as we had in the past with our former partners. “We will not exclude anyone and we will not be a closed country, but we must reflect on the reality,” Putin said.
The tones were raised even more by Former Prime Minister of Russia Dmitry Medvedevwho let the the possibility of interrupting food exports.
“It turns out that the food stability of many countries depends on our own supplies. It turns out that food is our silent weapon.
We eat breakfast alone. “We can share lunch with friends but we will not give dinner to the enemies,” Medvedev said.
Sergei Lavrov, for his part, is trying to explain why Russia puts rubles in the forefront of payments.
“We do not want to depend on a system that can be shut down at any time, and we do not want to depend on a system whose owners can steal your money overnight,” he said.
Europe rejects blackmail from the outset and insists on compliance.
Typical is the statement of the Commissioner for Economic Affairs, Paolo Gentiloni, who stressed that “the Russian economy has been hit hard by sanctions.
The ruble needs to be strengthened by Putin. All this is part of the game. “But our reaction was justified by this war, so in the end, our final position is that we will not be blackmailed.”
For his part, German Chancellor Olaf Solz said that Berlin had examined the contracts for gas supplies and that they would be paid in euros, sometimes in dollars but usually in euros. “I made it clear in my discussion with the Russian president that this will remain the case,” Solz said.
The US government also commented on the case, with Kate Bedingfield, White House Communications Director, expressing Washington’s support for European countries.
It is worth noting, however, that the Russian ultimatum for April 1 has already given way to a more flexible reading, with Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov saying the gas supply would not be cut off.
“It simply came to our notice then. Yesterday I was asked many times that if the payments are not made, it means that the gas supply will be stopped from April 1st. The answer is no. The decree does not mean that. “Payments for cargo currently being made should not be made today but somewhere in late April or even early May,” Peshkov said.
Markets, however, do not seem to be taking Moscow’s threats so far in cash, with gas prices falling as Gazprom assures it is channeling the agreed quantities normally. The Greek companies have reportedly not received any notification from Gazprom so far regarding possible changes in the contracts.
Gazprom today announced its decision to leave the German market following reports of a possible nationalization of its subsidiaries in the country.
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