Whether it is impeding grain exports or throttling gas – the Kremlin always justifies these steps with the embargoes of the European Union. Such claims are part of a tactic Russian President Putin is using to bring Brussels to its knees.
If Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin continues to turn off Germany’s gas tap, it will be a tit-for-tat for EU sanctions against Russia’s war in Ukraine. The Kremlin claims that there are no political reasons for reducing the amount of gas going to Germany. But even Russian commentators are now calling on the leadership in Moscow to play with open cards: After all, the EU and the USA are trying to destroy Russia’s economy with the sanctions.
So it is only legitimate to use Russia’s gas as a sanctions instrument in this economic war to harm the West. “Why is cutting off the gas for the EU presented as such a technical comedy and not as a direct sanction in order to respond to the West along the same lines,” said the newspaper Kommersant. It is obvious to everyone that the state-owned company Gazprom only lists the number of gas turbine repairs for the Baltic Sea pipeline Nord Stream 1 in order not to allow the important filling of gas storage facilities in Europe until winter.
After all, the Kremlin clearly blamed the problems with the gas turbines on the sanctions. “If these restrictions did not exist, all repair, warranty and service work would be carried out in the usual, routine, operational order,” said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov. He expects a gas turbine repaired in Canada and cleared despite the sanctions to come back and be installed soon. But it is also clear that Russia is more interested in relaxing the sanctions overall.
There are attempts in a variety of areas, which is why the power apparatus in Moscow has sometimes had to put up with the accusation of attempted blackmail. In the debate about food prices and world hunger, Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin demanded that there must be a “package solution”.
Despite its war of aggression against Ukraine, Russia declared itself ready, with the mediation of the United Nations, to let millions of tons of grain out of the country by sea onto the world market. In return, Moscow demanded that UN Secretary-General António Guterres personally campaign internationally to ensure that Russia could once again export grain, food and fertilizers unhindered. Like Ukraine, Russia also wants to earn billions from this export. But the power apparatus in Moscow complained that the sanctions were affecting shipping and financial transactions and were therefore hampering business.
And as far as the gas turbine is concerned, Gazprom wants an EU document to rule out any risk of sanctions for future maintenance of the turbines. According to the report by Kommersant, the central gas compression station “Portovaya” has a total of nine units consisting of turbines and compressors. At the moment only two machines are in operation; in normal operation there are five plus one reserve. From the Western point of view, Russia’s attempts at blackmail are doomed to fail.
In Brussels, it has been repeatedly emphasized for weeks that the sanctions will not be eased as long as Putin does not end the war against Ukraine. Decisions interpreted by Moscow as concessions are therefore only clarifications – for example, to straighten out imprecisely worded sanctions decisions under time pressure.
For example, against the background of Russian accusations, an EU resolution last Thursday stated that no sanctions would be “in any way directed against trade in agricultural products and foodstuffs, including wheat and fertilizers, between third countries and Russia”. . Specifically, it is regulated that transactions required for purchase, import and transport are permitted. In addition, for example, Russian merchant ships transporting agricultural products and foodstuffs may continue to use ports in the EU.
It was also clarified that the sanctions against the Russian aviation industry do not affect the exchange of information used to set technical standards within the International Civil Aviation Organization. Even if Russian propaganda sometimes sees it that way: the West is not giving in or the punitive measures are being relaxed.
In Brussels and Berlin, it is also completely out of the question to bow to pressure from Moscow and, for fear of a gas supply crisis, to issue an operating license for the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck said in Brussels: “Approving Nord Stream 2 would increase our dependency on Russian gas again – the opposite of what we have been doing here for the past six months – and with it, of course, capitulation with everyone sanctions measures that we have taken.”
In his opinion, the agreement that has now been reached on a gas emergency plan shows that Europe is prepared to save so that it does not allow itself to be blackmailed by Russia and that it is not possible to break up solidarity over the skyrocketing gas prices. “Europe cannot be divided,” he said.