The end of the transit of Russian herbal fuel Ukraine brought a significant blow to Moscow in its attempts to use power as a weapon, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.
The head of state of Ukraine made the comment at a telegram post on January 1, the day after an agreement with Russia through his Power Corporate Gazprom expired, the fuel can no longer travel through the country to serve the European clients.
Zelensky said that the end of the agreement “is one of Moscow’s greatest defeats. “
Newsweek contacted Gazprom for the comment email.
In 2021, Russia, the giant Gas exporter of the world, however, its sales sales have decreased strongly since the giant invasion of Vladimir Putin scale the following year, partly due to the sanctions and efforts of the ‘Europe, Its maximum lucrative market, to locate choice suppliers.
Ukraine had repeatedly warned it would not renew the transit deal which Reuters reported accounted for around half of Russia’s total pipeline gas exports to Europe, curbing funding for Putin’s war machine.
The transit deal ended on New Year’s Eve following a decade of fraught energy relations between Russia and Ukraine after Putin’s 2014 annexation of Crimea.
Ukraine has stopped buying Russian fuel the following year, however, the traffic agreement has allowed the appeal to be killed in Europe. Russia still exports fuel through the Turkstream pipe.
A few hours after Russian herbal fuel exports stopped, Zelensky posted in Telegram about Russia’s “cynical energy”.
He said that when Putin President in 2000, the annual fuel pumping through Ukraine to Europe amounted to more than 130 billion cubic meters (BCM). “Today, the Russian fuel traffic is 0,” he wrote. “This is one of Moscow’s greatest defeats. “
Zelensky said that U.S. gas supplies and other partners will mean that “European energy dependence on Russia will be overcome.”
On December 27, DTEK, the largest personal energy company in Ukraine, received its first delivery of Liquefied Herbal (LNG) fuel to the United States, after the shipping of LNG of one hundred million cubic meters harassed in Greece.
Observing the end of the fuel deal, Russian state news firm Tass reported that, Kyiv’s refusal to extirpate the “gazprom at the disadvantage of the technical and legal ability to supply the fuel in this way,” explained how in 2024 Russia increased fuel pipeline exports to Europe by 14% in the annual slippage.
Zelensky acknowledged on Wednesday that while most European countries “have adapted” to the ending of Russian gas transit, allies must support Moldova which is heavily dependent on Russian supplies.
In December, the country implemented a state of emergency in the electricity sector amid considerations regarding humanitarian issues having an effect on the relief of fuel materials during the winter months.
Residents in its breakaway region of Transnistria were left without centralized heating and hot water on Wednesday due to the transit cut, local energy company Tirasteploenergo said.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, said on the telegram: “When Putin won the force in Russia more than 25 years ago, the annual fuel of fuel in Ukraine in Europe remained in more than 130 billion cubic meters. Today, the Russian fuel transit is 0. This is one of the greatest defeats in Moscow.
Gazprom said in a press release: “Due to the Ukrainian party’s repeated and obviously expressed refusal to renew those agreements, Gazprom disadvantaged the technical and legal ability to supply fuel for transit through the territory of Ukraine from January 1. “
The CEO of Dtek, Maxim Tombko, told Newsweek in that the arrival of this ship’s shipment was “a transparent sign of DTEK’s determination to play his role in strengthening Ukraine and the energy security of Europe.
“Cargoes like this are not only providing the region with a flexible and secure source of power, but are further eroding Russia’s influence over our energy system,” he added.
What happens next
The end of the agreement will make Ukraine lose approximately $ 800 million a year in shipping costs, Reuters reported, while the Russian fuel gazprom will lose approximately $ five billion in fuel sales.
There is also the anticipation of the next measure for Slovakia, which also depends on Russian fuel. The prime minister, Robert Fico, who criticized EU’s help for Ukraine, met with the Russian leader in Moscow to talk about fuel supplies.
Fico had threatened “reciprocal measures” opposite to Ukraine if the agreement did not grow, adding through the prevention of electric power exports to the country. The United Kingdom Energy Minister Galushchenko told Politico “I don’t think they would. “
Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London, UK. His focus is Russia and Ukraine, in particular the war started by Moscow. He also covers other areas of geopolitics including China. Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and well as English, knows Russian and French. You can get in touch with Brendan by emailing [email protected] or follow on him on his X account @brendanmarkcole.