The US is interested in the energy market of Europe, so they use any pretexts to oust Russia from there.

In particular, they continue to escalate tension around Ukraine for this.

This opinion was expressed by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, on the air of the Fourth Republic program on the Rete4 channel of the Mediaset television corporation.

At the same time, she stressed, gas supplies to Europe are guaranteed not only by agreements between countries, but also by their “history of relations”.

“Russia is the most reliable supplier.

This annoys the US because it's a huge market they want to capture.

And so they come up with a situation around Ukraine, in particular, to prevent Nord Stream 2, to force Germany to abandon the project, they threaten sanctions in order to occupy this market and start supplying their resources, ”Zakharova said.

In this regard, she recommended that Italy impose a veto during the sanctions vote if the procedure takes place in Europe.

The diplomat also called "madness and falsification" all the accusations that have recently been made against Russia.

  • Russian Foreign Ministry Spokesperson Maria Zakharova

  • RIA News

  • © Press Service of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation

The US is considering options

Meanwhile, Washington is looking for ways to provide Europe with gas in case the situation around Ukraine worsens and the need to replace energy supplies from Russia.

“We are working with countries and companies around the world to ensure uninterrupted supplies and mitigate the impact of price fluctuations affecting Americans, Europe and the global economy,” White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said at a briefing.

According to her, consultations are ongoing with major global manufacturers, "so that the supply matches the demand."

She also noted that the search for additional volumes of "non-Russian gas" is being conducted on the territory from North Africa and the Middle East to Asia and the United States.

“Interruptions in energy supplies through Ukraine will have the most serious impact on the natural gas market in Europe.

Therefore, we are working with European allies to coordinate planned responses, including how to use their energy reserves,” the White House spokeswoman explained.

South Korea and Japan have already announced their readiness to consider the possibility of supplying liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Europe.

Brussels also announced the intensification of the dialogue on increasing gas supplies with Azerbaijan, Norway, Qatar and Egypt.

Meanwhile, as Gazprom reported on its Telegram channel on February 14, citing data from the Gas Infrastructure Europe (GIE) association, European gas storage facilities have already been emptied by 90.8% of the volume of gas pumped there during the summer season.

“From January 11, 2022, the level of reserves in European UGS facilities moved into the area of ​​​​record lows over a long-term observation period,” the company emphasized.

Thus, the total level of occupancy of underground gas storages (UGS) is estimated at less than 34%.

At the same time, underground storage facilities in Germany and France have already been exhausted by more than two-thirds.

The occupancy of Ukrainian UGS facilities is also at a minimum level.

  • The White house

  • Gettyimages.ru

  • © Eric Thayer

Despite this, US President Joe Biden and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, following telephone conversations on February 14, came to an agreement on the need to reduce the dependence of European countries on gas from Russia.

In their opinion, this step "more than any other measures would hit the strategic interests of Russia."

At the same time, the United States is reluctant to discuss its own relations with Russia on imports.

So, Karine Jean-Pierre rather evasively answered the question of whether Washington is ready to refuse to purchase oil and gas from Russia in the event of an aggravation of the situation around Ukraine.

“These are assumptions ... We have stated very clearly that if they (the Russians. -

RT

) invade, and we are moving forward in this matter in a coordinated and in full agreement with our European allies and partners, then this will entail serious economic consequences that will have crucial.

I can't provide any other details," the White House deputy press secretary said.

gas necessity

Meanwhile, in Europe, there is no consensus on sanctions against the energy sector, which the United States is promoting so much.

In particular, in an interview with RIA Novosti, the chairman of the State Council of Italy, Franco Frattini, called the introduction of restrictions against the Russian Federation “difficult” in the context of Europe's need for its gas.

Earlier, the Minister of Economy and Finance of France, Bruno Le Maire, on the air of the France Inter radio station on February 8, said that the European Union should not follow the course of US policy in everything, since the interests of Europeans will suffer more than Americans due to the escalation of the situation in Ukraine.

After all, this, according to him, will lead to a new jump in energy prices.

“Let's not let the Americans force us to take a position that does not reflect the opinion of the Europeans,” Le Maire urged.

In addition, the head of the German Industrial Union, Siegfried Ruswurm, in an interview with the Funke media group on January 29, recalled that Russia is one of the main gas suppliers to Germany.

“In a short time, it would definitely not be easy to completely or significantly replace this share,” he said.

The fact that the energy sector is sensitive for Europe was also said by Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schallenberg on January 23 in an interview with Die Presse am Sonntag newspaper.

“We in Europe depend to a certain extent on energy from Russia.

We will not be able to change this overnight if we want to receive heat and electricity,” the minister admitted.

His words on February 13 on the air of the ORF TV channel were also confirmed by the Minister of Digitalization and Economics of Austria Margaret Schramböck, answering the question of whether sanctions against Russia could have a painful impact on the country.

The goal is the energy dependence of Europe

Experts interviewed by RT note that Maria Zakharova very accurately described one of the US goals in the hysteria around Russia and Ukraine being fanned today.

According to them, the United States is trying by all means to enter and gain a foothold in the European energy market.

“The Americans have recently become exporters of liquefied natural gas, so they are quite aggressively promoting it in foreign markets.

The Asian market is not enough for them, and they want Europe to become dependent on the US not only in terms of geopolitics, but also in terms of energy security.

So, tools of unfair competition are now being used against Russia, including sanctions and denigration of Moscow, ”Nikita Danyuk, deputy director of the Institute for Strategic Studies and Forecasts of the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, a member of the Public Chamber of Russia, explained in a comment to RT.

  • LNG tanker

  • AFP

  • © STR/JIJI PRESS

At the same time, he recalled, Russia is by no means a monopoly on the European energy market, since the share of its gas is about 35%.

Aleksey Grivach, Deputy General Director for Gas Problems of the National Energy Security Fund, is of the same opinion.

He noted that the United States is now manipulating the situation in order to increase the attractiveness of its own economy and energy through rising energy prices for other competitors in the global market.

However, at the moment it is impossible to simply take and send more gas to Europe, the analyst emphasized.

“No one has spare production capacities now.

Therefore, additional deliveries can be organized only through the redistribution of flows between markets.

This cannot be done painlessly, as well as completely replacing Russian gas for Europe in the medium term,” Grivach added.

The fact that Europe needs gas supplies from the Russian Federation, in a conversation with RT, was also said by an expert from the National Energy Security Fund, a teacher at the Financial University under the Government of Russia, Stanislav Mitrakhovich.

“Despite the fact that there is a little more than a third of Russian gas on the European market, it is still a lot and it will not be possible to replace it quickly.

Americans negotiate with different countries, but none of them has such an opportunity.

This can be seen from the numbers.

If Russian supplies are interrupted, then Europe will face a colossal crisis, ”he stressed.

And Europe understands this, which is why there are voices against blindly following US policy, Mitrakhovich noted.

He also pointed to the fact that the US itself is interested in importing oil and gas from Russia and Washington does not seek to break these contracts.

“The US business interest is to continue working with Russia.

Russia continues to supply oil products to America in large quantities.

This is important for American refineries.

We are approximately in second or third place in terms of oil supplies to the country,” the expert said.

In this regard, Nikita Danyuk described the current situation as a "classic policy of double standards", when the United States separates its interests from the interests of its allies.

“In this case, the deliberate disregard of the interests of Europe by the Americans is a blatant case.

And many politicians in Europe do not like this, so they begin to say that the sanctions that exist harm primarily Europe and are beneficial to the United States, that this is a futile policy that needs to be abandoned, ”the analyst summed up.