In a letter sent by Vladimir Putin to 18 EU countries on Thursday (April 10), the Russian President threatens that the oil giant Gazprom will have to cease its gas deliveries to Ukraine, partially or completely, in the case of further violation of payments from Kiev. He noted though that this was undoubtedly “an extreme measure”. In order for Ukraine to avoid such a horrifying scenario, Kiev will have to pay 5 billion USD worth of gas to be pumped into its storage vats. Moscow also reminded Kiev that Ukraine’s gas debt was about 2.2 billion USD for this year only despite the fact that Russia’s discounts to Ukraine since 2009 are worth about 35.4 billion USD. Vladimir Putin added that this was based on a 2010 agreement for the Russian navy to be stationed in Crimea, which Moscow says is no longer valid given its annexation of the peninsula.
The recipients of the letters are all countries that are heavily dependent on Russian gas and natural resources. These include Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia. Moreover, the list includes also five non-EU countries – Bosnia, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, and Turkey. Except for the gas issue gas, the letter also blames the EU for causing the economic crisis in Ukraine by exhausting its natural materials by buying them at very low prices and then turning them into expensive manufactured products. As Vladimir Putin put it, “the crisis in Ukraine’s economy has been precipitated by the unbalanced trade with the EU member states, to a large extent”. He also added that Brussels had given Kiev nothing but promises of financial aid that are not backed up by any tangible action.
