The end of the traffic of the fuel based on Russian herbs Ukraine brought a significant blow to Moscow in his attempts to use power as a weapon, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
Ukraine’s head of state made the comment in a Telegram post on January 1, the day after the expiry of an agreement with Russia through its energy firm Gazprom which means the fuel can no longer transit through the country to serve European customers.
Zelensky said that the end of the agreement “is one of the greatest defeats in Moscow. “
Newsweek contacted Gazprom for observation email.
In 2021, Russia, the world’s giant exporter of herbal gas, however, its sales of the resource have declined sharply since Vladimir Putin’s giant-scale invasion the following year, in part due to sanctions and efforts by the ‘Europe, its maximum lucrative market, to locate suppliers of choice.
Ukraine had repeatedly warned it would not renew the transit deal which Reuters reported accounted for around half of Russia’s total pipeline gas exports to Europe, curbing funding for Putin’s war machine.
The transit deal ended on New Year’s Eve after a decade of good power between Russia and Ukraine following Putin’s annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Ukraine stopped buying Russian gas the following year but the transit deal still allowed the resource to be piped to Europe. Russia still exports gas via the TurkStream pipeline.
A few hours after Russian herbal fuel exports stopped, Zelensky posted in Telegram about Russia’s “cynical energy”.
He said that when Putin President in 2000, the annual fuel pumping through Ukraine to Europe amounted to more than 130 billion cubic meters (BCM). “Today, the Russian fuel traffic is 0,” he wrote. “This is one of Moscow’s greatest defeats. “
Zelensky said that the American fuel and other partners will point out that “the dependence of the European power of Russia will be overcome. “
On December 27, DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy company, took its first delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, after the 100 million cubic meter LNG shipment docked in Greece.
At the end of the fuel agreement, the Russian state news firm Tass reported that Kyiv’s refusal to remove the “Gazprom agreement disadvantaged the technical and legal ability to obtain fuel through this route”, explained how in 2024, Russia higher, the fuel of the pipe exports to Europe through 14% year -on -year.
Zelensky declared Wednesday that although the maximum European countries “have adapted” at the end of the Russian fuel traffic, the allies will have to mold, which is very dependent on the Russian supplies.
In December, the country implemented a state of emergency in the electricity sector amid considerations regarding humanitarian having an effect on the relief of fuel materials during the winter months.
The residents of their Transistria escaped region were on Wednesday with centralized heating and hot water due to the transit cup, Tirasteploener said, the local electricity company.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said on the telegram: “When Putin won the force in Russia more than 25 years ago, the annual fuel of fuel in Ukraine in Europe remained in more than 130 billion cubic meters. Today, the Russian fuel transit is 0. This is one of the greatest defeats in Moscow.
Gazprom said in a press release: “Due to the Ukrainian party’s repeated and obviously expressed refusal to renew those agreements, Gazprom disadvantaged the technical and legal ability to supply fuel for transit through the territory of Ukraine from January 1. “
DTEK CEO Maxim Timchenko told Newsweek in a statement that the arrival of this LNG cargo was “a clear signal of DTEK’s determination to play its part in strengthening Ukraine and Europe’s energy security.
“The chargals like this supply not only to the region a flexible and safe power source, but more eroding Russia’s influence on our energy system,” he added.
What happens after
The ending of the deal will see Ukraine will lose around $800 million a year in transit fees, Reuters reported, while Russian gas giant Gazprom will lose close to $5 billion in gas sales.
There is also anticipation in the next move for Slovakia, which is also dependent on Russian fuel. His Prime Minister Robert Fico, who criticized EU aid to Ukraine, met the Russian leader in Moscow to discuss fuel supplies.
Fico had threatened “reciprocal measures” against Ukraine if it did not extend the arrangement, including stopping electricity exports to the country. Ukrainian Energy Minister German Galushchenko told Politico “I don’t think that they would do this.”
Brendan Cole is a reporter for Newsweek in London, UK. The target is Russia and Ukraine, especially the war introduced through Moscow. It also covers other geopolitical spaces, adding China. English, meet Russian and French. You can tap Brendan by emailing b. cole@newsweek. com or follow him on his X @BrendanmarkCole account.