Russian president intervenes in economic forum to justify war in Ukraine and blame Europe for current gas stock situation
In his speech today at the plenary session of the Eastern Economic Forum, which has been held since Monday in the Russian port city of Vladivostok, Russian President Vladimir Putin threatened not to renew the agreement reached with Ukraine at the end of July thanks to Turkey’s mediation on exports. of Ukrainian grain. According to him, the grain does not go to the most needy countries.
“We did everything we could to ensure that Ukrainian grain was exported. (…) we did it together with Turkey. If we exclude Turkey as an intermediate country, almost all grain exported from Ukraine will not go to the poorest developing countries, but to the countries of the European Union,” Putin lamented.
In this regard, the Kremlin head added that “just as many European countries have acted as colonizers over the decades and centuries, today they continue to do the same.” In his words, “they have cheated the developing countries again and continue to do so (…) in this way the food problems in those poorer countries will only increase, which could lead to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe ». He said that in such a situation with his Turkish colleague, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, will speak to “limit the export of grain and food trade along this route”, ie towards Europe.
On July 22, two separate agreements were signed in Istanbul with Turkey and the United Nations for grain exports, Ukraine on the one hand and Russia on the other. Kiev, for its part, promised to guide the ships safely and avoid minefields, while Russia agreed not to attack Ukrainian cargo ships or port infrastructure.
Also today, Russia’s representative to the UN, Víctor Nebenzia, spoke about the export of grains and assured that “we have reached an agreement, but it is not working with regard to the Russian side. Not a single Russian ship has taken Russian grain from Russian ports for export.” Nebenzia hinted, given the circumstances, that Moscow could end or not renew the agreements when they expire in December.
The adviser to the Ukrainian presidency, Mijailo Podoliak, for his part, pointed out that “there are no objective reasons to review the grain export agreement (…) from our point of view and that of the intermediaries, it is strictly complied with ». Podoliak called Putin’s stance “unexpected” and “baseless”.
Putin also spoke today about the current crisis of Russian fuel supplies to Europe. According to his stance, Russia does not use energy as a weapon, despite the indefinite interruption of gas supply to the Old Continent via the Nord Stream gas pipeline and the warning from its spokesman, Dmitri Peskov, that the liquid will not be recovered unless sanctions are lifted. .
The Russian top leader labeled the accusations that Russia would use the austerity measures as a weapon as “nonsense”. He said his country is ready to supply the volumes requested by importing countries, but referred to the failure of a turbine, which he believes is the cause of oil leaks and the current gas pipeline shutdown. “If they supply us with the turbine, we will reactivate the Nord Stream tomorrow,” he assured. Peskov already warned on Monday that Western sanctions for the invasion of Ukraine have led to a huge shortage of spare parts for the maintenance of the equipment that serves the pipeline, which, according to his statements, “threatens the integrity of the Nord Stream”. Putin stressed this morning that “it has not been Russia that imposed sanctions,” a move he described as “a dead end for everyone, for some and for others”.
The reason Russia could stop supplying fuel to the West, the Russian president stressed, would be to set limits on the prices of these commodities, something he considers “an absolutely stupid decision”. “We will deliver nothing at all if it conflicts with our interests, in this case economic, no gas, no oil, no coal, nothing,” he warned. The G7 countries decided on Friday to put a limit on the Russian oil price.
“Those who try to impose this on us are now in no position to dictate their will to us, they have very few hands,” Putin said, recalling that the gas pipeline through Ukraine “is not working at the initiative of Kiev and the Yamal -Europe was closed by Poland«. As a solution, he suggested commissioning the Nord Stream-2 pipeline, something the governing coalition in Germany is reluctant to see. “We are ready to open the gas pipeline (…) just press a button,” the Russian president assured.
Alluding to the war in Ukraine, Putin repeated his well-known argument that “hostilities started in 2014, after the coup in Ukraine, by those who did not want normal and peaceful development. and they tried to oppress their own people by conducting one military operation after another and subjecting the people living in Donbass to genocide for 8 years.” He noted that his country “responded conscientiously” and called the invasion of Ukraine “a duty” of Moscow that “must be fulfilled to the end”.
“We have not started anything in terms of military operations, but we are only trying to end them,” the Russian president insisted. In his opinion: “I am sure that we have lost nothing and will lose nothing. From the point of view of the gains – of the war – I can say that the most important acquisition is the strengthening of our sovereignty, and this is the inevitable result of what is happening now«.
Source: La Verdad
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