Russia busts gas to Poland and Bulgaria

Russia has busted gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, two EU and NATO member countries, a move aimed to pressure Ukraine’s partners.

Kyiv has characterised the Russian decision as a “gas blackmail.”

“The cutting off gas supplies to the two countries coming after they spurned to pay for the shipments in rubles. This action marked a rise of the Kremlin’s face-off with the West and its efforts to shrink the resolve of those supporting Ukraine’s defensive stand,” Russia’s state-controlled natural gas giant Gazprom said in a statement on Wednesday.

Before that happened, the U.S. and its partners gathered in Germany to commit strong weapons for Ukraine. Moscow flipped out that support, accusing the West as a part of a “proxy war” by weaponization Ukraine and threatening to attack the military shipments.

European gas prices

European gas prices have risen up by 24 percent due to Gazprom’s statement on Wednesday. “This step considers as a “weaponization of energy supplies. Russia’s decision makes it clearer than ever that Europe needs to move quickly to reduce its reliance on Russian energy”, Fatih Birol, the executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency.

Bulgaria said it can meet energy needs for another month, as Associated Press reported. It has more than 90 percent of its gas from Russia.

Bulgarian Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said that his country can carry out the needs of users for at least one month, after the statement of Russia’s Gazprom. Azerbaijan are seemed to be another source of gas.