Bans on Russian gas pipelines may not be included in the 11th package of sanctions. According to Western diplomats, many countries are dependent on blue fuel – before the great war Moscow supplied the EU with more than 40% of the gas.
European countries cannot refuse Russian gas, so bans on gas pipelines will not be included in the 11th package of sanctions. This was reported on May 16 by the American publication Politico, with reference to Western diplomats.
The interlocutors pointed out that the sanctions on natural gas pipelines should be discussed at the upcoming G7 summit. Authorities are pondering measures to prevent countries like Germany and Poland from continuing to import gas from Russia.
Still, there is no consensus on Russian gas in the European Union. The sources noted that the main opponents of such sanctions are Germany and Italy.
One of the diplomats said, “There is a lot of resistance from these gas-dependent countries. There is no such measure in the 11th package of sanctions, which is almost ready.”
Before the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Moscow supplied the EU with more than 40% of its gas volume. That figure has now dropped below 8%, according to the Brueghel think tank.
Flows in the two largest pre-war routes, the Nord Stream subsea gas pipeline to Germany and the Yamal gas pipeline through Poland, dropped to zero. Pipeline crossing through Ukraine is about a quarter of pre-war levels, and only the Turkish Stream crossing the Black Sea is operating at pre-invasion levels.
The European Commission declined to comment on reports of sanctions against Russian gas pipelines.
It is worth noting that the Ministry of Finance of the Russian Federation, from January to April 2023, Russia lost 52% of its revenues, due to the actions of international sanctions, the Kremlin began to lose oil and gas revenues.
In April, Hungary agreed to buy additional volumes of Russian gas. Budapest will pay tolls to Ukrainian operator Ukrtransnafta.
Source: Focus
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