The World’s reaction to the Russian’s decision to cut off gas supply to Ukraine.
The main thoughts – Ukraine and Russia are shifting the responsibility to EU’s shoulders, EU should put pressure on Kremlin, Ukraine should make a deal with Putin in the end.
By cutting gas supply to Ukraine, the Kiev authorities are forced to kneel down even before the negotiations process starts.
ABC:
It is an open challenge to the West and a sample of the threats that matter to extend economic sanctions. The European Union must maintain a firm and reasonable position to make Moscow feel the weight of their deep errors. “And it’s something that can be more powerful than any army concrete to reduce energy dependence on Russian gas shares,” the newspaper writes. The edition informs that Spain, in this respect, is destined to work with its strategic position and its connections to Algeria, “provided that the works of interconnection with the European network will accelerate and multiply.”
sevilla.abc.es
Both Russia and Ukraine have an interest in resolving the conflict. They want once more to shift the responsibility on the EU.
El Mundo:
Russia cut off gas to Ukraine to pressure the EU. Gazprom, Russia’s state gas company, completed its repeated threats. Ukraine will not receive gas until the country pays its debt, El Mundo points out in its editors article. The newspaper considers that Russia wants the EU to respond to the debt of Ukraine. Putin still has the upper hand in Ukraine and can make reluctantly, the EU has to take his side if he wants to secure supplies of gas.
www.elmundo.es
Both Russia and Ukraine have an interest in keeping supplies to Europe flowing.
The New York Times.
The gas conflict is rooted in two larger disputes. First and foremost, the violence in eastern Ukraine between separatists devoted to Russia and the Ukrainian military is escalating. “Second, Gazprom has provoked economic ire in Europe over its plans to build an alternative gas route under the Black Sea for the company’s exclusive use, contradicting Europe’s open access laws. That has put the future of what is known as the South Stream pipeline in doubt,” the article writes. Both Ukraine and Russia have an interest in keeping supplies flowing. Ukraine is trying to become a European economic ally, due to sign an association agreement on June 27, while Russia does not need another source of tension after annexing Crimea, provoking Western sanctions.
www.nytimes.com
www.nytimes.com
Europe understands it would face a shortfall.
Financial Times:
“Natural gas prices in Europe rallied on Monday amid fears another ‘gas war’ between Russia and Ukraine could threaten supplies to the continent,” Financial Times writes. Alexander Pögl of Vienna-based consultants JBC Energy said the muted reaction to Russia’s action could in part be explained by timing. “But if Russia were to cut off all supplies to Ukraine, including gas transported through the country, Europe would face a shortfall,” the author claims. It would then be forced to buy higher priced liquefied natural gas to balance demand, said Thierry Bros, analyst at Société Générale.
www.ft.com
The negotiation process about gas supply to Ukraine is yet another Moscow’s front in its battle with Ukrainian democracy movement.
Frankfurter Allgemeine:
The pricing formula of the Kremlin towards Ukraine is simple “the less Ukraine gives Russia an opportunity to influence formally or informally on the processes in Ukraine, the more expensive is the gas price. Russia is not interested in a fair business, the journalist continues, and it could be seen by the fact that the Russian authorities could come to an agreement with those Ukrainian authority who takes part in a nontransparent business and have their profit from it. If people with fair business principles came to power in Kiev, Russia has got some problems with them. Therefore, the negotiation process about gas supply to Ukraine is yet another Moscow’s front in its battle with Ukrainian democracy movement along with Crimea’s annexation and weapons’ supplies to terrorists in the east of Ukraine.
www.faz.net
The confrontation with Moscow is the case with the gun on the table.
La Stampa:
Putin has annexed Crimea and destabilizes the southern east of Ukraine. The EU threatens to impose serious sanctions which would prefer to avoid. Ukrainians could not afford (and do not want) to pay a lot. The country faces military battles and bloodshed. Russians will do all to split Ukraine up and complicate the signing of the bilateral agreement.
www.lastampa.it
Ukraine will soon have to draw on its limited storage capacity – or reach a deal.
Daily Telegraph:
Summer is the best time of year for a gas war, analyst David Blair writes for Daily Telegraph. He thinks that Russia’s decision to stop supplying Ukraine with gas on Monday marks “the culmination of months of pressure.” This dispute has consequences that stretch far beyond Ukraine’s borders. A string of European countries receives gas from Russia via pipelines running across Ukrainian territory. Slovakia gets 80 per cent of its gas in this way; Bulgaria receives close to 90 per cent. In all, about 15 per cent of all European gas imports use pipelines through Ukraine, Blair writes.
www.telegraph.co.uk
EU has possibilities to influence on Russia.
Independent:
“The sale of oil and gas does however account for 50 per cent of Russia’s federal budget reserves, and most of that goes to Europe. So the EU does have a hefty weapon in its toolbox if it decides later this month that Russia is not doing enough to quell unrest in eastern Ukraine,” The Guardian sums up.
www.independent.co.uk
Great Britain starts mining shale gas.
Daily Mail:
The edition praises Great Britain’s attempts to diversify gas supplies. “Moreover, since then, the Langeled pipeline, which connects Britain to Norway, has become fully operational. Centrica also took the sensible decision to sign long-term gas contracts with Qatar to bring liquid natural gas into the Isle of Grain in Kent for processing.” writes the edition. Nevertheless, Daily Mail points out Britain’s vulnerability to geo-political events. “The combination of Russian energy nationalism and the advance of ISIS in Syria and Iraq shows the acute dangers of not having adequate supplies.” Daily Mail sums up.
www.dailymail.co.uk
Western hopes that after the meeting in Normandy the situation will normalize, are fading.
Suddeutsche Zeitung.
The observer of Suddeutsche Zeitung criticises western leaders who believe Putin’s schemes. Russian leader avoids concrete agreements and has lots of maneuvers toward Ukraine. When he says something about disarming of fighters on Ukraine territory meaning only Maidan protestors, the West takes these words seriously only not to impose further sanctions, Yulian Hans stresses. Meanwhile, pro-Russian separatists are seizing important enterprises in Donetsk and Luhansk.
www.sueddeutsche.de
WESTERN MEDIA TRIES TO FIND OUT WHAT IS GOING ON IN THE EAST OF UKRAINE.
The situation in Donetsk: what had started as a Russian geopolitical gambit had evolved into something else entirely. The New Repbulic: Julia Ioffe. “After a week in Ukraine, we had discovered that it was impossible to understand what was happening in this restive region from Washington, Moscow, or Kiev, and equally impossible from Donetsk: There was one building besieged by separatists, surrounded by a calm and indifferent city,” the author writes. Ioffe writes what she I could ascertain that afternoon was “that what had started as a Russian geopolitical gambit had evolved into something else entirely.” Nobody could answer her quesiton, what was going on. Vasyl Arbuzov and Alexander Kovzhun, advisers to Serhiy Taruta also could not answer the question. “It underscores how hard it is to solve a crisis that defies basic understanding,” the author points out.
www.newrepublic.com
The journalist stresses that there are lots of volunteers in the Ukrainian army in the East.
Foreign Policy:
Journalist Askold Krushelnycky was a eyewitness how Ukrainian forces took back a town controlled by pro-Russian separatists and gave his point of view in the article for Foreign Policy. The airport, which was to serve as our jumping-off point for the final attack, is closed to planes but still in the hands of the Ukrainian military. He writes the unit boasted an odd assortment of men. Most of the volunteers were young Ukrainians, who had battled the security forces of President Viktor Yanukovych during the EuroMaidan protests. “A few of the older members had served in the Soviet army in Afghanistan. Some were Ukrainian nationalists who had volunteered to fight on the Georgian side in that country’s brief war against Russia in 2008. Some had joined Chechen forces fighting the Russians in the 1990s; during my conversations with them I heard many bitter remarks about the Chechen mercenaries who had been sent across the border by Moscow to bolster the pro-Russian separatists,” Krushelnycky writes. “There were even a few foreigners in the battalion: three Swedes, a lone Italian, and a dozen or two Russian citizens who claim to oppose the government of Vladimir Putin. None of these men receives pay.” During the fighting the streets had been deserted by civilians but as the Ukrainian forces fanned out people came out to greet them and offering bottles of water,” the autor reports. “Occasional bursts of gunfire echoed and groups of soldiers investigated. Lyashko, in black uniform and armed with two pistols, led some of the searches.”
www.foreignpolicy.com
Western experts condemns militians in the East: militia leaders can more likely expect prosecution than amnesty if Kiev retakes the east.
Foreign Policy:
“A rash of marauding that has hit eastern Ukraine in recent weeks has positioned militia commanders as the ultimate arbiters in their locals,” the newspaper informs. These days, eastern Ukraine’s countryside is largely a lawless territory dotted with checkpoints run by pro-Russian rebels and Ukrainian government forces, while the cities have retained a sense of order. “But all three Donetsk militia commanders told me that criminality is on the rise,” the author writes.Militia leaders can more likely expect prosecution than amnesty if Kiev retakes the east, the author thinks. Their actions have also divided the local populace, a majority of which oposes the rebels’ tactics. If the stalemate continues or if eastern Ukraine successfully separates from the rest of the country, will these men eventually relinquish their power and risk their personal safety? Or will they begin fighting among themselves?”
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/06/16/flight_club_donetsk_ukraine_russia_warlords