The Polish prime minister turned to Russia for trying to “blackmail” his country by cutting off gas supplies sharply and accused the nation of retaliating for new sanctions imposed by Warsaw this week.
Hours after the announcement of sanctions against 50 Russian oligarchs and companies – including energy giant Gazprom – Poland said it had received word that Gazprom was suspending supplies to Poland for failing to meet new requirements for payments in Russian rubles. Gazprom is also expected to cut off gas to Bulgaria.
Hungary and Austria have said gas supplies are normal.
Speaking to the Polish parliament, Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki promised that Poland would not be intimidated by the gas cut-off. He said Poland was safe thanks to years of efforts to secure gas from other countries.
Deputies stood and applauded when he said Russia’s “gas blackmail” would have no effect on his country.
While Poland is much more dependent on coal, with gas accounting for only nine percent of the country’s total energy consumption, Russia supplies about 45 percent of the country’s gas.
Russian supplies to Poland were due to end later this year, and Poland had already made new plans. A new pipeline, The Baltic Pipe Project, is due to become operational in the autumn.
Gas is used as a political tool
Gazprom has said it has cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria, blaming non-payment in rubles.
But Bulgarian Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said on Wednesday that gas was still flowing and that his country would be able to meet consumer needs for at least a month.
“Alternative supplies are available and Bulgaria hopes that alternative routes and supplies will be provided at EU level as well,” Nikolov said, referring to a meeting of EU experts to be held later Wednesday to plan the next steps.
“Obviously, gas is used as a political tool. As long as I am a minister, Bulgaria will not negotiate under pressure. Bulgaria is not being sold and is not amenable to any trading partner.”
Russia’s energy exports have largely continued since the start of the war, with the exception of sanctions, which have cut Moscow off from much of its trade with the West.
(CBC)
An attempt to break unity
Ukraine has accused Russia of blackmailing Europe for energy in an attempt to crush its allies as fighting in Ukraine entered its third month. Buyers say Moscow’s demands for payment in rubles violate contracts that require payment in euros.
Andrei Ermak, head of Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s cabinet, said Russia was “trying to break the unity of our allies.”
Bulgaria, which relies almost entirely on Russian gas imports, said the proposed new payment scheme violates its agreement with Gazprom. It has held talks on importing liquefied natural gas through neighboring Turkey and Greece.
WATCH Russia warns of risk of nuclear war:
The head of the UN makes a diplomatic trip to Moscow, Russia warns of the risk of nuclear war
In a demonstration of diplomacy, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres made a trip to Moscow, where he spoke with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov – insisting on the safe passage of civilians to Mariupol. Prior to the visit, Lavrov warned the countries not to underestimate the threat of nuclear war amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. 2:03
Russia wins in eastern Ukraine
After Russian invading forces were repulsed back to the outskirts of Kyiv last month, Moscow shifted its operation to eastern Ukraine, launching a new offensive from several directions to completely capture two provinces known as Donbass.
The General Staff of Ukraine acknowledged that Russia has succeeded in a number of areas in the east, capturing the outskirts of the cities of Velika Komishuvaha and Factories from one front, as well as the villages of Zarichne and Novoshtokivske in the Donetsk region.
It says the attack on Azovstal, a steel mine where Ukrainian defenders remain in the ruins of the port of Mariupol, continues.
In the south, Ukraine said it had attacked Snake Island, a Black Sea post taken by Russia at the start of the war, when defenders became heroes for Ukrainians because they rejected Russia’s request for capitulation with obscenity.
Ukraine says Russia is trying to hold a fake referendum in Kherson, the only regional capital it has seized so far to try to kidnap it from Ukraine.
Explosions have been reported in Moldova
There are also growing concerns about the prospect of the conflict spreading to neighboring Moldova, where pro-Russian separatists in a small region occupied by Russian troops since the 1990s have reported several explosions in recent days.
The invasion of Ukraine left thousands dead or wounded, turned cities into ruins and forced more than five million people to flee abroad.
Moscow called its actions a “special operation” to disarm Ukraine and protect it from the Nazis. Ukraine and the West call this a pretext for an unprovoked war to seize territory.
The United States and its allies are increasingly supplying Ukraine with heavy weapons for the battle in the east. More than 40 countries met on Tuesday at a U.S. air base in Germany to discuss Ukraine’s defense. Germany has announced its first supply of heavy weapons to Ukraine, including Gepard light tanks equipped with anti-aircraft guns.
A man walks while residents find shelter from shelling at a metro station in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on Tuesday. (Ricardo Moraes / Reuters)
In the early hours of Wednesday, explosions were heard in three Russian provinces bordering Ukraine, authorities said, and an ammunition depot in Belgorod province caught fire. The district governor said the fire near the village of Stara Nelidovka had been extinguished and no civilians were injured.
Russia this month accused Ukraine of attacking a fuel depot in Belgorod with helicopters and opening fire on several villages in the province. A massive fire broke out this week in a fuel depot in nearby Bryansk. Ukraine does not confirm responsibility for reported incidents on Russian territory.
British military intelligence has said that Ukraine has retained control of most of its airspace and that Russia has failed to effectively destroy Ukraine’s air force or its air defenses.
Ukrainian authorities on Tuesday dismantled a huge Soviet-era monument in central Kyiv to symbolize friendship with Russia.
“Now we see what this ‘friendship’ is – the destruction of Ukrainian cities … the killing of tens of thousands of civilians,” said Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko.
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