Washington/ Moscow: Even though Russia did not cause an energy crisis in Europe, it appears that Russia has taken undue advantage of that crisis, accused the United States. Amos Hochstein, a senior member of the US State Department, made this accusation. Moreover, he also claimed that Russia had the opportunity to minimise the intensity of this crisis. However, it did not do that.
Moreover, as the intensity of the Coronavirus pandemic is reducing, several European nations are trying to release lockdown to boost the economy. Consequently, this has caused a rise in demand for fuel in Europe. The price of fuel in Europe rose with its demand; as a result, some European nations could not purchase extra fuel. This has, in turn, affected millions of European nationals. Its impact can also be witnessed across the industries.
Russia is the biggest exporter of fuel to Europe. Besides, 40% to 50% of oil imported into Europe comes from Russia. Thus, Russia could have identified this difficulty and helped Europe overcome the energy crisis by exporting extra fuel, cited the US official.
Russian President Vladimir Putin had declared that Russia is prepared to assist Europe. However, Russia did not act as per Putin’s word, cited analysts. Moreover, the fuel supply to Europe via Russia has become inconsistent. Instead, it has surfaced that the reverse pumping of fuel from the pipeline has caused fuel supply to shut down. Russia has also been accused of weaponising fuel.
Furthermore, a few analysts have expressed that the Nord Stream 2 fuel pipeline project could be the reason for such Russian movements. This project between Russia and Germany has been completed. However, Germany is yet to approve the last stage to start the fuel supply. Besides, it appears that Russia has been dallying with Europe’s fuel supply to obtain final approval from Germany.
However, Russia has dismissed all these claims. Russia has revealed that the Russian companies have supplied fuel to Europe as per the agreement.
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