EU: Twenty-Seven are looking for ways to get gas supplies without going through Russia
Three days of intense diplomatic activities begin this Thursday in Brussels around the war in Ukraine for the twenty-seven, the States are in a hurry to find ways to ensure their gas supplies otherwise.
AFP - OLIVIER HOSLET
Text by: RFI Follow
3 mins
Three days of intense diplomatic activities begin this Thursday in Brussels around the war in Ukraine for the Twenty-Seven.
With Moscow now threatening to no longer accept payments in dollars for its hydrocarbon exports, EU partners are in a hurry to find ways to secure their supplies otherwise.
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Two weeks ago in Versailles, a draft roadmap was drawn up to quickly rid the EU of its dependence on Russian gas.
It is this plan which must be ratified this Thursday in Brussels.
The objective is ambitious: to dispense with two-thirds of current imports from
Russia
by the end of the year.
Several avenues are possible for this, such as working together on joint purchases of liquefied natural gas and hydrogen.
Similar to what happened at the height of the Covid-19 crisis with vaccines, the EU would set up teams responsible on behalf of the Member States for placing orders with alternative suppliers.
Talks with Qatar, Norway, the United States or Algeria have thus accelerated in recent weeks.
At the same time, European states will have to store more gas, at least at 80% of their capacity before next winter according to the project drawn up in Versailles.
Strikes in Spain
, panic buying of fuels in Hungary, rising prices put governments under pressure.
The challenge of this summit is also to maintain intact the unity displayed by the European partners vis-à-vis Russia.
A new ruble payment system
Vladimir Putin
announced on Wednesday that Russia would no longer accept payments in dollars or euros for gas deliveries to the EU, giving Russian authorities a week to work out the new ruble system.
A snub to European sanctions that have damaged the Russian currency.
For Alexandre Baradez, analyst at IG, European countries have the choice between paying in rubles or denouncing a breach of contract and stopping importing Russian gas: "
There it is forcing European customers to buy rubles in order to be able to pay gas deliveries.
To have them, you will have to buy them from the Russian Central Bank and for that you have to give foreign currencies in return, the euro or the dollar for example, and this will have the effect of strengthening the ruble and therefore limiting the impact of European sanctions which had a fairly strong inflationary effect on the Russian economy.
»
Towards a possible announcement of “breach of contract”
This announcement is therefore a means of thwarting part of the sanctions decided by Europe and for the analyst at IG, Europe can decide to say that they have broken the contract and that it will not settle the gas which will be book.
“
It's a way of saying that we cut off the last tap of foreign currency for Russia.
We enter the sinews of war if we can say so.
This is the last weapon that Europe will most likely wield if indeed Vladimir Putin decides on this
, ”says Alexandre Baradez.
Berlin has already announced that this Russian demand was a “
breach of contract
”.
►
To read: Ukraine: the EU puts the total embargo on Russian oil again on the sanctions table
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