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Page added on April 10, 2014
US says Russia using natural gas as ‘tool’ against Ukraine
The United States on Thursday said it condemned Russian efforts to use energy as a “tool of coercion” in its dispute with Ukraine.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Russia had reneged on an agreement with Ukraine that offered reduced natural gas prices in exchange for a 25-year lease on Black Sea fleet facilities.
“We condemn Russia’s efforts to use energy as a tool of coercion against Ukraine,” she said. “Ukraine is now paying $485 (1,000 cubic meters), a price clearly not set by market forces and well above the average price paid by EU members.
“The United States is taking immediate steps to assist Ukraine, including the provision of emergency finance, technical assistance in the areas of energy security, energy efficiency, energy sector reform.”
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday warned European leaders that Russia would cut natural gas supplies to Ukraine if it did not pay its bills and said this could lead to a reduction of onward deliveries to Europe.
Russia, a key provider of natural gas, recently annexed the Crimea region from Ukraine.
18 Comments on "US says Russia using natural gas as ‘tool’ against Ukraine"
dissident on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 12:15 am
What do Norway and Holland charge for their natural gas? Perhaps the blowhards at the State Department can answer this question first before yapping about market forces.
Arthur on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 12:20 am
Tools are their to be used.
Fantastic opportunity for Putin to use the Ukraine to let the Europeans feel how vulnerable they are, and the Europeans can’t blame Putin for the Ukraine not paying it’s bills.
Russia, a key provider of natural gas, recently annexed the Crimea region from Ukraine.
It did not. The Crimeans organized a referendum, the outcome of which nobody doubts and asked to become member of the Russian Federation and Putin accepted. Not a single shot was fired during this ‘annexation’.
dissident on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 1:12 am
The western media lies just like the “leader of the free world” Obama. Obama claimed that there was a UN organized referendum on secession in Kosovo. There was no such thing.
Ukraine lost Crimea when commie turned “nationalist” Kuchma stripped it of its status as an autonomous republic between 1992 and 1996. Crimeans showed what they wanted at the first chance.
Makati1 on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 1:14 am
The US used $5,000,000,000.00+ to stir up the mess in the Ukraine and now they are complaining that Putin is using NG as a lore/stick. Perhaps the assholes in DC should have considered that in their decisions, but instead they have airheads in the State Department that tell people to F— off, and brain dead Secretaries of State hopping around the world making stupid claims and threats.
Plantagenet on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 1:39 am
The White House is right—Putin is using NG to threaten Ukraine and the EU.
This could get ugly.
GregT on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 1:56 am
The Russians do not have to sell their gas to anyone if they don’t feel like it. They are also able to ask any price they like.
Unless of course the US is subscribing to communism, instead of free market capitalism.
Makati1 on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 1:57 am
Maybe a few here would gain from reading this:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/war-and-the-demise-of-the-us-dollar-is-the-us-or-the-world-coming-to-an-end-it-will-be-one-or-the-other/5377407
Those with open minds will see the truth in it. All others will disagree strongly. But, both sides will have another thing to think about in the future. In my mind, he is just telling it like it is.
GregT on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 2:39 am
Thanks for the link Makati,
Nothing I wasn’t already aware of, but good to see someone else connect the dots. It looks to me like war is what they want. War is much more profitable than a dollar collapse.
GregT on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 3:20 am
Let’s just hope that Putin can play the game without being drawn into their bullshit. Tymoshenko appears to be another pawn in the US’s game, she’s trying to get the conflict going. Somehow, if these assholes get their way, I don’t see a war remaining overseas this time.
baptised on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 6:55 am
GregT I really like that first comment.
Arthur on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 8:00 am
Don’t expect the US elite to wait for the moment that China/BRICS will dump the dollar, so Washington will voluntarily roll over and die, while the country will fall apart USSR/Orlov style. Not going to happen. An XXL conflict with Russia is what Washington is after. In fact it is the only way to prologue it’s life on this planet, because it enables Washington to mask it’s financial failure by implementing rigorous measures at home and put the country in a war mode as a flight forward. The strategy is to provoke Russia to a military intervention in the Ukraine which will be sold as ‘yet another annexation’ and that ‘Putin needs to be stopped’. For that to happen they need a bloodbath first in the east. And dna-level Washington allies Yats and the gas princess could come in handy here.
Jerry L on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 10:00 am
In the short term this is tough for the Ukrainians. They will be forced to quickly increase the efficiency in the way they use energy and will have to quickly start investing more in renewable energy.
This will be good for the world as CO2 pollution will decrease.
In the long run this will be a benefit for Ukraine for reasons of its political independence and because eventually even Russian natural gas will run out and Ukraine will have to switch to other energy sources.
Russia itself will have permanently lost one of its big customers.
Europe should take note and also reduce their reliance on Russian gas by increasing the efficiency of energy use and the rate of renewable energy production.
rockman on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 11:22 am
“… to use energy as a tool of coercion…” Not that I really care a great deal about either situation but how would this spokesperson respond if asked was the US is using energy as a tool of coercion against Iran?
Davy, Hermann, MO on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 12:02 pm
Well, boys, you ever watch “Deer Hunter” and the Russian roulette scene. Pretty amazing game which in the movie, Di Niro trapped, turned his gun on the captors and had the lucky shot meant for him killed his captors. An energy war is MAD. Remember the cold war “MAD”. So, basically you will see failures of important economic nodes to the global economic system with an energy war. Unintended consequences of failed states like Ukraine. This is especially true for Russia with a border with 46MIL and a Russian economy in no way shape or form able to manage that collapse. The same is true for Europe and the breakdown of their economy from any kind of energy disruption. Look to Great Britain and the fuel shortages from the transport strike. A 10% reduction in liquid fuels can bring an economy to its knees. Gas is not a liquid fuel but it is vital so some kind of severe economic disruption can occur. So we have a Russian roulette and as we see from the movie the gun can be turned on the captor. IOW anything is possible when you play with food, energy, or water in a war footing. We may see the end of status quo BAU with this “black Swan” event. The poster girls I see here all the time will do no better than a destroyed Europe or America. We are all in this together. We can see a failed Yemen, Somalia, CAR, Mali….et. all but we cannot have failed critical node countries that allow the global system to function.
Kenz300 on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 1:05 pm
Every country needs to develop a plan for their own energy security and economic security.
Relying on outside sources for energy is dangerous. Local energy production with local labor is the key to energy security.
Wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal and second generation biofuels made from algae, cellulose and waste can all be produced locally.
Decentralized power production is the answer. It is time to break away from the old, long standing centralized power solutions and move to local power generation.
Energy can be derived from trash or waste. Every landfill can now be converted to produce energy, biofuels and recycled raw materials for new products. How many landfills are there across all of Europe? It is time to stop looking for a single easy solution to energy problems and move to the many smaller solutions that are available.
DC on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 6:08 pm
Wind, solar, wave energy, geothermal and second generation biofuels made from algae, cellulose and waste can all be produced locally.
ROFL@Kenz
Of all the things on your uhh..list, only the first two can be said to be capable of being ‘locally produced'(The equipment to do so however, are far from being locally made themselves). All of the others require centralized, highly subsidized, energy and tech heavy installations to be remotely ‘feasible’. The rest, ie your diesel form slime-dont even exist. I am not sure why your comment appears in this thread. You seem to suggest instead of buying NG from Russia, Europeans would rather dig up old trash dumps and set them on fire? Seriously?
Steve M on Fri, 11th Apr 2014 9:36 pm
The referendum was a joke. The two questions were,”do you wish to leave Ukraine?” or “Do you wish to join Russia?”. There was no choice to stay in Ukraine.
Arthur on Sat, 12th Apr 2014 8:06 am
The questioning of the referendum may have been tendentious indeed, but the voters showed up in great numbers regardless and I did not hear even the greatest enemies of Russia challenging the wish of the great majority of the Crimean population to join Russia. Instead the West tries to attack the outcome of the Crimean standoff on the basis of international law, as if the West cares one iota about internal law.