MOSCOW - The announcement by the Group of Seven countries in their joint statement at the end of their work in Hiroshima, Japan, on "the need to accelerate the gradual elimination of dependence on Russian energy," came in line with the readings of most Russian observers who pre-empted the summit and said that the energy file is the "egg of the grave" in any step that the Western system can take in the ongoing series of sanctions against Moscow.

A few days before the summit launched, it was revealed that the EU and the Group of Seven planned to ban pipeline gas imports from Russia through those corridors through which Moscow itself has reduced supplies.

In addition to the previous measures, the Group of Seven countries announced that they would impose sanctions on all exports "used by Russia to rebuild its military equipment."

The new restrictions focused mainly on removing all loopholes that allowed Moscow to bypass the imposed sanctions, which was clearly highlighted during the preparation of the eleventh package of sanctions, and translated into the summit statement in the transition to the application of "extraterritorial" measures, that is, against third countries that help Moscow in this large-scale "escape" process.

As a measure aimed at further reducing dependence on Russian energy sources, the summit statement stressed the need to strengthen financial investments in the field of liquefied natural gas and increase the use of nuclear energy, which it considered measures that could be useful in this direction.

Group of Seven countries announced that they will impose sanctions on exports used by Russia in its military equipment (Getty Images)

Double-edged sword

Russian observers believe that the aftermath of the new decisions at the Hiroshima summit will not be the same as before, and stressed that the new decisions came as a "half blow" to the Russian energy sector, but the repercussions of the decision will also be tangible and affect the economy of European countries, albeit in varying forms.

Some of them mock the "11" sanctions included in the Hiroshima statement regarding the cessation of dependence on Russian energy sources, recalling that these promises were made in May last year, whether to abandon Russian coal in the summer, Russian oil in the fall, or Russian gas by the end of last year.

Economist Victor Lashon explains to Al Jazeera Net that "Hiroshima's decisions" came – despite its hostile tone – calculated and carefully studied, it kept an accurate line of return with Russia, as shown by the text of the decision, which linked – albeit indirectly – between the continuation of "strangulation" of Russian gas and oil pipelines and the end of the war in Ukraine.

According to him, the decisions of the summit are a purely political measure, which cannot cause the Russian economy the damage that the West seeks on the one hand, and at the same time take into account the interests of European customers who still import both gas and liquefied natural gas from Russia.

Sanctions 'Fail'

So, if this amount of gas stops flowing to Europe, there is a high probability that natural gas prices in the European market will rise, Lachon said.

At the same time, the same speaker points out that the Group of Seven wants to put an end to the issue of "evasion" of restrictions on the gas and oil sectors in Russia, so as to restrict the latter's access to the international financial system, and prevent the use of branches of Russian banks in third countries to circumvent sanctions, which could have even collateral effects on the revenues of oil and gas sales.

For his part, energy writer Alexander Safarov points out that the agreement of the "seven major" countries at the Hiroshima summit to impose new sanctions on Russia does not mean full unity between these allies, and believes that this is evident in the rejection of Washington's proposal to impose a comprehensive ban on Russian exports, explaining that a number of European countries prefer to "work closely" with Moscow.

Besides downplaying the recent decisions of the Group of Seven, Safarov believes that "the West lacks the courage to admit the failure of sanctions on Russia, as well as the recognition of their ineffectiveness by a number of European observers."

Energy bondage

In his opinion, the West, for political considerations, made a big mistake by stopping buying energy materials from Russia, which over time will plunge its countries into a stronger "slavery" by buying them at high prices.

He adds that those who stopped buying Russian gas directly will have to buy it through intermediaries, but at a higher price. Through the new sanctions and their predecessor, the West "came closer to the dream of abandoning dependence on Russian energy sources, but in fact it came closer to completely eliminating the guarantee of the well-being of Europeans and harming their standard of living", he said.

Savarov pointed out that the suspension of Russian gas supplies constituted, contrary to the statements of European Union and US officials, a real economic disaster for European countries, recalling in this context the statements of French parliamentarian Thierry Mariani, who said that the European Union has become more dependent on "inappropriate partners", such as the United States, which sells its liquefied natural gas at a high price.

The new restrictions will not have a serious impact on Russia's energy sector, he concludes, because the "gradual" blocking of Russian pipelines in certain regions will be symbolic, while the highest level of damage that can be reached is the punitive measures adopted during 2022 and nevertheless did not reach their fate.