Days after Russia cut off natural gas supply to Nato members Poland and Bulgaria, US President Joe Biden said on Friday, “We will not let Russia intimidate or blackmail their way out of sanctions.”
“Yesterday, Russia threatened two of our allies with a cut off of energy supplies, Let me be clear… we will not allow them to use their oil to avoid consequences for their aggression,” Joe Biden said in a series of tweets.
On Wednesday, Russia’s state-controlled energy company abruptly announced it would stop supplying the two European nations — Poland and Bulgaria. It also threatened to do the same to other countries amid the war in Ukraine.
Yesterday, 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.
— President Biden (@POTUS) April 29, 2022
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.
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Russia’s move was condemned by European leaders as “blackmail”.
Reacting to this, Joe Biden said, “We are working with other nations — like South Korea, Japan, and Qatar — that support our effort to help our European allies threatened by Russia with gas blackmail meet their energy needs in other ways. not win. Threats will not win.”
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“It’s another reminder of the imperative for Europe and the world to move more and more of our power needs to clean energy — and the US is doing that now,” Joe Biden said.
“Last year, we deployed more solar, wind, and battery storage than any year in history — enough to power 56 million homes,” Joe Biden said.
POLAND AND BULGARIA
Poland has been a major gateway for the delivery of weapons to Ukraine and confirmed this week that it is sending the country tanks.
Just hours before Russia’s state energy giant Gazprom actedPoland announced a new set of sanctions against the company and other Russian businesses and oligarchs.
Bulgaria, under a new liberal government that took office last fall, has cut many of its old ties to Moscow and likewise supported punitive measures against the Kremlin.
It has also hosted Western fighter jets at a new Nato outpost on Bulgaria’s Black Sea coast.
The gas cuts do not immediately put the two countries in any dire trouble. Poland, especially, has been working for many years to line up other suppliers, and the continent is heading into summer, making gas less essential for households.
Also, Russian gas deliveries to both Poland and Bulgaria were expected to end later this year anyway.
Still, the cutoff and Russia’s warning that other countries could be next sent shivers of worry through the 27-nation European Union.
SANCTIONS AGAINST RUSSIA
Russia surpassed Iran and North Korea to become the world’s most-sanctioned nation in March when the war against Ukraine was about to enter its second month. Russian aggression in Ukraine has been raging on for over 60 days now.
Russia had declared war on Ukraine on February 24. President Putin said Russia was launching a ” military operation” to “demilitarise and denazify” Ukraine.
Ukraine, at the center of the war, has been giving a tough fight to Russian forces amid heavy shelling and bombardment.
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