Sanctions war: Russia cuts gas supply to Latvia OLASMEDIA TV NEWSThis is what we have for you today:
(AFP) – Russian energy giant Gazprom on Saturday halted gas supplies to Latvia after tensions between Moscow and the West over the conflict in Ukraine and sweeping European and US sanctions against Russia.
The statement came a day after Moscow and Kiev accused each other of bombing a prison containing Ukrainian prisoners of war in Russian-occupied territory, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying more than 50 were killed and calling the attack a war crime.
“Today, Gazprom suspended its gas deliveries to Latvia… due to violations of the purchase terms,” the company said on Telegram.
Gazprom on Wednesday drastically cut gas supplies to Europe through the Nord Stream pipeline to about 20 percent of its capacity.
The Russian state-owned company had previously announced it would limit supplies to 33 million cubic meters per day – half the amount it has delivered since service resumed last week after 10 days of maintenance work.
EU countries accuse Russia of curtailing supplies in retaliation for Western sanctions over Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine.
Gazprom called the cessation of operation of one of the last two working turbines for the pipeline due to the “technical condition of the engine”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has blamed EU sanctions for the limited supply.
“Technical pump capacities have decreased, more limited. Why? Because the process of maintaining technical devices is extremely complicated by the sanctions adopted by Europe,” Peskov said.
“Gazprom has been and continues to be a reliable guarantor for its obligations… but it cannot guarantee gas pumping if the imported devices cannot be serviced due to European sanctions,” he said.
Expert: Russian gas cut off could cause European electricity grids to collapsehttps://t.co/fvGn8GjUxD
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 28, 2022
Russian ‘blackmail’
The European Union this week agreed on a plan to cut gas consumption in solidarity with Germany, where the Nord Stream pipeline runs, and warned of Russian “blackmail”.
Russia’s defense ministry on Friday accused Ukraine of shelling a prison in Russian-occupied territory with US-supplied long-range missiles, in an “outrageous provocation” designed to prevent captured soldiers from surrendering.
Among the dead were Ukrainian troops who had surrendered after fighting for weeks against Russia’s brutal bombardment of the sprawling Azovstal steel plant in the port city of Mariupol.
Zelensky placed the blame entirely on Russia.
“This was a deliberate Russian war crime, a deliberate mass murder of Ukrainian prisoners of war,” Zelensky said in his daily address to the nation late Friday. “More than 50 are dead.”
Zelensky said an agreement for Azovstal’s fighters to lay down their weapons, brokered by the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross, included guarantees for their health and safety, and called on those two organizations to intervene, as guarantors.
Zelensky also urged the international community, especially the United States, to officially declare Russia a state sponsor of terrorism.
“A decision is needed, which is needed now,” he said.
As a sign of Washington’s continued support for Kiev, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken spoke with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov for the first time since the conflict began on Friday, urging Moscow to stop entering Ukrainian territory. annex that was occupied by Russian troops.
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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 15, 2022
American warning
“It was very important that the Russians heard directly from us that that will not be accepted — and not only will it not be accepted, it will lead to additional significant costs for Russia if it goes through,” Blinken told reporters in Washington. .
Zelensky visited a port in southern Ukraine on Friday to monitor a ship being loaded with grain for export as part of a UN-backed plan to ship millions of tons of Ukrainian grain stranded by the Russian naval blockade to world markets. to get.
The Ukrainian presidency has released footage of Zelensky standing in front of the Turkish vessel Polarnet in Chornomorsk harbor during a visit to see if grain is being loaded. The Ukrainian presidency said exports could begin in the coming days.
In a separate development, S&P Global Ratings on Friday cut Ukraine’s long-term debt ratio by three steps, saying a recently announced plan to delay payments means default is “a virtual certainty.”
A group of Western countries last week gave the green light to Kiev’s request to defer interest payments on its debt and called on other creditors to do the same.
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— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) July 26, 2022