The writer Thomas Friedman said that the world fears that Russian President Vladimir Putin will bomb Ukraine with tactical nuclear weapons while his forces are stuck there, but this American journalist believes that the "tsar" is now preparing a different weapon.
In an article in the New York Times, Friedman highlighted that the Russian president is now removing the safety valve from the energy bomb, both oil and gas, before the eyes of the world and with unintended help from the West, and could easily detonate it this winter.
The writer pointed out that the prices of gasoline and gas used for heating in the West would reach the sky if Putin detonated his bomb, which the writer expects that the Russian President intends to detonate during the upcoming Christmases.
He also said that Putin hopes that the political fallout from high energy prices will split the Western alliance supporting Ukraine, and hope that it will push many countries, including America, to search for a way out by reaching an agreement with Moscow as soon as possible.
The writer pointed out that Putin is now fighting a ground war on the battlefield in Ukraine, and another in the energy field on two fronts aimed at breaking the will of this country and the will of its allies.
He explained that Putin is trying to destroy Ukraine's electricity networks, paralyze its ability to generate energy, and plunge the country into a cold and long winter, while preparing to raise energy costs in all countries allied to Kiev.
Which is frightening in the writer's opinion, as America and the West do not have an energy strategy that can mitigate the impact of the energy bomb that Putin is preparing to detonate.
The embargo and the oil shortage
In his article, the American journalist touched on a number of factors that will inevitably lead to an increase in energy prices next winter to unprecedented levels, including the embargo that the European Union is preparing to impose on imports of seaborne crude oil from Russia, starting from December 5, to make Moscow To comply to sell its oil at the price set by the Union and America.
If we add to this ban the move by Germany and Poland to stop Russian energy imports transported by pipelines, that would mean banning 90% of the current EU imports of Russian oil.
A recent report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington noted that "the sanctions also prohibit EU companies from providing shipping insurance, brokerage services, or financing oil exports from Russia to third countries."
Another factor is the possibility of China exiting the closure due to Corona, which was disrupting many aspects of its economy, and then the return of its energy consumption to what it was before the epidemic, which will stop the supplies of oil and gas that it was re-exporting to Europe, as the article indicates that Beijing - By virtue of long-term contracts with energy suppliers - it was selling the surplus of its energy markets to Europeans during the closures due to Corona.
birthday gift
If we take all of the above into account, and Putin announced next December to stop all oil and gas exports for 30 or 60 days to all countries that support Ukraine, instead of complying with the European Union’s decision that sets a ceiling for the price of Russian oil, the writer says: Putin will have detonated the energy bomb and presented it as a Christmas gift to the West.
He adds that this would raise the price of oil to $200 a barrel, and the price of natural gas would similarly rise.
This means that gasoline in the United States will cost between $10 and $12 per gallon.
The article concluded that the importance of the energy bomb for the Russian leader lies in the fact that the explosion of oil prices will divide the West over support for Ukraine, unlike the nuclear bomb that will be used to turn the whole world against Putin.