Essay by Eric Worrall
Germany is accused of importing Russian Gas through a third party. Did Moscow just establish some ground rules?
This article is speculative, but hear me out.
Germany depends on a new source of money for Kiev
Status: 08/17/2024 20:11
Due to low funds, the Federal Government does not want to provide new aid to Ukraine for now. However, according to the Ministry of Finance, exemptions are possible. Support for Kiev will come from other sources in the future.
By Christina Nagel, ARD capital studio
The Federal Government has planned about eight billion euros this year to support Ukraine. But in early July, it became clear that the funds for military aid had run out. They were “usually enforced and tied down,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said during a NATO summit.
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Become if Ukraine asks for more ammunition, spare parts or military equipment this year, for example, the federal government should say “no.” And the hope is that other countries will jump on the bandwagon.
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Read more (original German): https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/innenpolitik/ukraine-hilfe-deutschland-102.html
Germany is officially ending Russian gas imports by 2022. But there is evidence that a significant amount of Russian gas is still being imported by the EU in disguised form – the gas is liquefied, then allegedly sold through third-party gas exporters like Qatar.
War in Ukraine: Why is the EU still buying Russian gas?
Arthur Sullivan 04/29/2024 April 29, 2024
Although the European Union has dramatically reduced the amount of Russian gas it imports, a significant amount still flows into the bloc.
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How LNG imports from Russia are replacing pipeline gas
According to EU data, the share of imported Russian pipeline gas member states will decrease from 40% of the total in 2021 to approximately 8% in 2023. However, when Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) is included – natural gas is cooled down to the form become liquid. can be transported by ship – the total share of Russian gas in the EU total last year was 15%.
The main way the EU reduces its dependence on Russian gas is by increasing LNG imports from countries such as the United States and Qatar. However, this inadvertently led to a surge in deeply discounted Russian LNG entering the bloc.
According to data provider Kpler, Russia is currently the EU’s second largest LNG supplier. LNG imports from Russia accounted for 16% of the EU’s total LNG supply in 2023, a 40% increase compared to the amount Russia sold to the EU in 2021.
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Read more: https://www.dw.com/en/war-in-ukraine-why-is-the-eu-still-buying-russian-gas/a-68925869
Why is Russia’s continued involvement in Germany’s energy supply important?
Germany is piling up problems with its budget, hundreds of billions of Euros Germany spends and continues to spend on failed energy energiewende project energiewende has thrown the government’s finances into chaos, and lead to a public deficit is not popular. Germany’s incompetent green politicians fear that economic problems or public anger over precarious state finances will lead to a populist right-wing movement Alternative for Germany.
It wouldn’t take much of a disruption to Germany’s energy supply to topple this fragile budget situation. Even a few delayed shipments of thinly disguised Russian gas could trigger a politically damaging spike in German energy prices, pushing Germany’s public finances deeper.
There is a missing link in this chain, I have no evidence that Moscow has recently increased pressure on Germany not to support Ukraine. But the timing of this decision to stop supporting Ukraine, right in the middle of the German budget crisis, on the day of surprise Ukraine salient to the territory of Russia, looks exciting.
Germany’s withdrawal of open support for Ukraine poses a major risk for the United States. If the rest of Europe follows Germany’s lead, and also begins to withdraw support for Ukraine, the Biden/Harris administration will be left with the shame of supporting a war on another continent that even Ukraine’s neighbors don’t care about. In the “hope that other countries will jump to publish” – I wonder what other countries German officials have in mind? With the veil of European military support lifted, the Ukraine war will become a direct military confrontation between the US Ukrainian proxy and the nuclear-armed Russian Federation.
If I am right, Europe is indeed paying the price for its failed experiment in green energy. European governments still control Russia’s energy supplies, so they have to dance like bears when Moscow cracks the whip, even if Russia eats one of its neighbors. But with their political survival seriously threatened, most European politicians still haven’t found the political courage to change course and admit that the push for green energy is wrong.
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