News Desk :
US President Joe Biden said Thursday that the United States will not let Russia use “gas blackmail” to pressure European allies and to undermine sanctions placed on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine.
“We will not let Russia intimidate or blackmail their way out of these sanctions. We will not allow them to use their oil and gas to avoid consequences for their aggression,” Biden said.
Russia, under international pressure over its war in Ukraine, on Wednesday cut off gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland, both EU and NATO members.
“There is an element of Russia shooting itself in the foot,” Secretary of State Antony Blinken told the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
“The revenues and resources that it would get from the sale it will be denied.”
Blinken also pointed to ramped-up US shipments of liquified natural gas to Europe “to help compensate for any shortfalls including those that may result from Russia trying to use this as a tool of blackmail.”
Germany in particular has faced criticism that it emboldened Russia through reliance on its gas, AFP reports.
On Wednesday, European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Russian energy giant Gazprom’s decision to suspend gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland is yet another attempt at blackmail.
“The announcement by Gazprom that it is unilaterally stopping delivery of gas to customers in Europe is yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail. This is unjustified and unacceptable. And it shows once again the unreliability of Russia as a gas supplier,” von der Leyen had said in a statement.
On Wednesday, Russia threatened two of our allies with a cut off of energy supplies.
Let me be clear: We will not let Russia intimidate or blackmail their way out of sanctions. And we will not allow them to use their oil to avoid consequences for their aggression.
The gas cutoff came after Russian President Vladimir Putin said that “unfriendly” countries would need to start paying for gas in rubles, Russia’s currency, which Bulgaria and Poland refused to do.
On March 31, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree stipulating that all contracts for gas supplies with companies registered in “unfriendly” countries be settled in rubles.
Media reports said some European gas buyers have already paid for supplies in rubles as Russia demanded.
