Poor Ukraine. Vladimir Putin is having a veritable field day with the former Soviet state’s run of bad luck. Last week he magnanimously announced that Russia would generously leave off bankrupting its neighbor with fines for breaking gas contracts that it can no longer afford, making very public in the process the idea that Ukraine is somehow at Russia’s mercy where energy is concerned. To anyone familiar with Russia’s long history of abrasion with Ukraine, this kind of overture will reveal itself as a somewhat backhanded pledge of support.
And just today, Putin has rained on a potential Ukrainian parade. In what looks like good news for Ukraine, it has just signed a deal with the EU in Brussels this week that would pave the way for €2.5 billion of Western investment to upgrade its gas pipelines through to 2015, as part of a broader plan to upgrade and root out corruption from its energy infrastructure system.
But it seems Putin isn’t so keen on the idea of Ukraine regaining its bearings, as he immediately slammed the move as ‘ill-considered and unprofessional’, furious that Russia was not involved in the meetings pertaining to the deal, and threatened to review EU-Russia relations if steps were not taken to include Russia in the negotiations. The tone of his outburst seems more like that of a vent than a constructive critique – suggesting that Ukraine is on the right track for independence in working with the EU. But at what cost?
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4 Comments
As Eni’s Paolo Scaroni said ” what does it mean to discuss transit when you don’t ask buyers and suppliers “Ukraine has found huge natural gas deposits ?I guess that these pipes will not see one molecule of the new arctic gas deposits , neither of one molecule from central asia .So from where will it come ?
Russia will respond to this by making all discussions it has with Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Lybia, Nigeria, Venezuela, etc. for energy private.The EU will be surpised when all of these sources are locked up in the blink of an eye.Purposely exclude Russia from negotiations and backstab it: you reap what you sow.
Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Lybia, Nigeria, Venezuela, etc. all need money. That they get by selling it they have, i.e., natural gas. EU as the world’s largest economy has that money to buy, why would these countries not sell? Or do you think Russia instead will buy all natural gas Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Lybia, Nigeria, Venezuela, etc. produce? By the way, if Russia stops selling gas and crude, how will the shelves in Moscow snd Sankt Peterburg super markets be filled with imports covering all the basic necesseties from cars and home electronicics to food?
My neighbor has a car. And if he does not want to take it to my workshop for repairs I’m going to set his house on fire because he ignores my interests and his actions are ill-considered and unprofessional. Putin’s reaction is laughable. If Ukraine’s pipelines are Russia’s interest, then Russia is interested in too much. What’s next? If Obama wants to repaint a room in the Whitehouse and does hire Russian contractors, Putin will send his outdated Bears to Washington to get the rest of his “renovation” done as his cronies are out of business.