7/20/22
By WarNews 24/7
Translated from Greek

Shock in Ukraine: The united front of sanctions broke

The EU decided to unfreeze Russian bank deposits under the guise of a food crisis, but the reality is that Germany agreed to exchange part of the sanctions for... some natural gas from Gazprom.

The news has sent shockwaves through Ukraine, which sees itself losing support within the EU.

Pres. Putin: Gazprom will fulfill its obligations
In fact, Russian President Putin has confirmed that the Kremlin-controlled energy giant Gazprom is ready to fulfill its obligations regarding natural gas exports.

Speaking to reporters after visiting Tehran, where he met with the leaders of Turkey and Iran, Putin also said that Gazprom was not responsible for the reduction in gas flows, including Kyiv's interruption of transit through Ukraine in Europe.

However, he warned that flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, the largest pipeline carrying Russian natural gas to Europe, could fall further due to slow progress in equipment maintenance.

The pipeline remains idle for scheduled annual maintenance from July 11 to 21.

Afterwards, Putin emphasized that " Europe is responsible for the energy crisis, which decided to abandon traditional energy sources and experiment with new energy sources such as renewable sources.

I don't know if it's worth going into details about the energy policy of European countries that have neglected the importance of traditional forms of energy and have relied on non-traditional forms.

They are experts in the field of non-traditional relationships, and in the field of energy, they have decided to rely on non-traditional types of energy.

Gazprom always fulfills and intends to fulfill its obligations”, but faces obstacles – for example, Ukraine “for no reason” closed one of the natural gas supply routes passing through its territory.

In addition, Gazprom has not yet received turbine data for Nord Stream 1, without which the volume of supplies through this natural gas pipeline will decrease by 50%.

Russia is ready to start Nord Stream 2, but now there are problems with this route as well – 50% of the volume of natural gas intended for this route had to be withdrawn "for internal consumption".

The European Union unfreezes Russian bank deposits
Two sources in Moscow told Reuters that natural gas flows through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline resumed as normal from Thursday after scheduled maintenance was completed.

Earlier, however, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing European budget commissioner Johannes Hahn, that the European Commission does not expect the pipeline to reopen after maintenance work.

At the same time, the Russian news agency Tass - citing Reuters - reports that the European Union intends to unfreeze some of the deposits of Russian banks in order to facilitate transactions in the global trade of food and fertilizers.

What does this mean; But profits and income for Russia!

According to the agency, the new measures will be taken today and will lead to the release of the "financial resources" of the Russian banks VTB, Sovcombank, Promsvyazbank, Novikombank, Otkritie Bank, Rossiya Bank and VEB.

The EU also plans to facilitate food exports from Russian ports, which were suspended due to sanctions, although these measures did not affect food exports (so what will it facilitate? rather Russia itself..)

According to the draft document, the funds will be unfrozen after "it is established that they are necessary for the purchase, import or transport of agricultural products, fertilizers and food...

Separately, in a decision to be adopted today, on July 20, Sberbank, Russia's biggest bank, will also be subject to a freeze on its assets, with the exception of funds needed for food trade, an EU official told Reuters.

Will the lifting of sanctions just stay there or will there be other "under the carpet" deals to get Nord Stream 1 back up and running?

In any case, it is a huge victory for Putin. Russia's president appears to have cornered the weak EU with a judo handle, exposing internal weaknesses and contradictions. The EU is proceeding with a forced folding…

source:
https://warnews247.gr/lavi-tzounto-apo-v-poutin-stin-ee-i-evropaiki-enosi-xepagosei-katatheseis-rosikon-trapezon-me-antallagma-trofima-f-a-apo-gazprom-sok-stin-oukrania/