The Russian president has called for the development of new outlets for Russian fossil fuels, especially towards the Asian market.
Vladimir Putin, April 14, 2022, in Moscow (Sputnik / Mikhail Klimentyev)
Vladimir Putin on Thursday, April 14, called for the diversion of Russian energy exports from Europe to Asia amid the crisis caused by his offensive in Ukraine, accusing Europeans of “destabilizing the market” by wanting to do without the Russians. hydrocarbons.
“We assume that supplies to the West will decline in the future,” the Russian president said at a government meeting devoted to the energy sector under international sanctions. We therefore need to “refocus our exports towards the markets in the south and east, which are growing rapidly,” he added. “European countries are constantly talking about going without Russian stocks and thereby destabilizing the market and driving up prices,” the Russian president accused.
“Efforts by Western countries to evict Russian suppliers, to replace our energy resources with alternative stocks, will inevitably have repercussions on the entire global economy”
warned Vladimir Putin, assuring that “the consequences of such a move could become very painful, and in the first place for the initiators of such a policy”.
Russian gas imports by EU country in 2020, in terajoules (AFP/)
This call from the Russian president to develop new outlets for Russian fossil fuels (a ‘turn to Asia’ that began several years ago) comes as Europeans consider extending sanctions on Moscow’s hydrocarbons in response to his military intervention in Ukraine.
The Russian oil and gas that continues to flow to Europe – its first market – provides important revenues for Moscow. Vladimir Putin did not specify which countries he was thinking of, but China, whose hunger for hydrocarbons continues to grow, borders Russia. However, Beijing has a reputation for being a tough negotiator and Russia wants to look beyond its neighbour.
A possible embargo on Russian gas is the subject of heated discussions among EU member states, with Germany being one of the main opponents of an immediate cessation of these imports on which it heavily depends. The EU, the US and Japan have imposed an embargo on Russian coal and the President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, has indicated that she will propose the goal of EU independence from Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
