Category: Ukraine

European Union leaders will consider repercussions for Russia at an emergency meeting today on the Ukraine crisis, after Russia’s foreign minister fended off a U.S. effort to ease tensions in the Crimean peninsula. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron will participate in today’s meeting in Brussels, a day after the 28-nation bloc offered 1.6 billion euros ($2.2 billion) in emergency aid to help the new Ukrainian government avert a default. The government is prepared to immediately sign the EU association agreement that ousted President Viktor Yanukovych rejected, precipitating the crisis, premier Arseniy Yatsenyuk said in an interview with newspaper Rzeczpospolita. Western nations including the U.S. are threatening Russia with sanctions over its military intervention in Crimea while pursuing diplomacy in an effort to defuse the crisis. Russia has accused the West of supporting a coup against Yanukovych and rejected EU proposals to broker a settlement. […]

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An effort by the United States to broker the first face-to-face diplomatic meeting between Russia and Ukraine over the Crimea crisis failed on Wednesday, but Secretary of State John Kerry and his Russian counterpart announced more discussions in the days ahead. Their remarks left open the possibility of progress toward a solution to de-escalate one of the most serious East-West confrontations since the Cold War. But while Mr. Kerry asserted Wednesday night that his deliberations here had yielded creative ideas and that he planned to resume talks with the Russian foreign minister in Rome on Thursday, there were also signs of how acute the crisis remained. Continue reading the main story In Crimea, unidentified armed men threatened the United Nations special envoy, Robert Serry, forcing […]

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The crisis in Crimea is heralding the rise of a new era of American energy diplomacy, as the Obama administration tries to deploy the vast new supply of natural gas in the United States as a weapon to undercut the influence of the Russian president, Vladimir V. Putin, over Ukraine and Europe. The crisis has escalated a State Department initiative to use a new boom in American natural gas supplies as a lever against Russia, which supplies 60 percent of Ukraine’s natural gas and has a history of cutting off the supply during conflicts. This week, Gazprom, Russia’s state-run natural gas company, said it would no longer provide gas at a discount rate to Ukraine, […]

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Russia’s intervention in the Crimean Peninsula poses few risks to Europe’s energy supplies, but escalation or Western sanctions could change that assessment. If the crisis expanded to mainland Ukraine, the integrity of that country’s pipelines and the natural gas they carry to EU members would be the most immediate energy concern. Although Ukraine’s energy assets don’t appear to be a major focus of Russia’s occupation of the Crimean peninsula, any escalation of the crisis could have serious energy consequences, regionally and globally. The initial reaction of energy markets has been cautious, with Monday’s jump of around  2% for Brent crude and nearly 10% for European gas futures largely erased in Tuesday’s trading . While some of Russia’s oil exports to Europe transit through Ukraine, the latter’s natural gas pipelines are the bigger worry, especially in light of Russia’s past use of the "gas weapon." It’s always dicey commenting on […]

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Getting more U.S. natural gas to the international market will reduce Russia’s influence in Eastern Europe, U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-Mich., said. Upton, chairmen of the Natural Resources Committee, has described the natural gas sector as the "bright spot" in the U.S. economy. Now it’s time to use that advantage for international gain, he said, through more exports of liquefied natural gas. "Expanding U.S. LNG exports is an opportunity to combat Russian influence and power, and we have an energy diplomacy responsibility to act quickly," he said in a statement Monday. European consumers get about 20 percent of their natural gas from Russia, though most of that runs through a Soviet-era pipeline network in Ukraine. Washington has expressed concern about Moscow’s reaction to the February ouster of Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych , a Kremlin ally. Upton said bureaucracy at the U.S. Energy Department meant […]

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Russia’s Energy Minister Alexander Novak cancelled his Mar. 4 appearance at IHS CERAWeek given rising tensions between Russia and the Ukraine, and conference panelists discussed the emerging geopolitical situation and what it might mean for energy. Thane Gustafson, IHS senior director of Russian and Caspian energy, said an interim government is going to have to maintain order in Ukraine and to find candidates for an upcoming presidential election. “Ukraine needs fixing,” Gustafson said, adding that he believes “Moscow and the Western countries have to work together” toward a peaceful resolution. Angela Stent, Georgetown University professor in Washington, DC, and an author on US-Russian relations, said, “This isn’t the Cold War…but it has the feel of a Cold War.”  She noted “a huge difference” between Russia and the defunct Soviet Union. “This is the worse time in relations between Russia and the West since the collapse of the Soviet Union,” […]

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Is it true that the U.S. has few real options to pressure Vladimir Putin to get out of Ukraine? How about a straight business statement from Washington like this: "We are delighted to announce that the U.S. is accelerating its plans to export natural gas and will soon reverse our virtual ban on oil exports. We have such abundant, new supplies of gas and oil in America that we look forward to becoming a major supplier to world markets. And the first customers we aim to serve are our good friends in Europe." These are friends, we’re again reminded by events this week, who are currently hostage to energy supplied by Russia. To date, America’s debate over what to do with its sudden wealth of energy has been about business, economics and the environment—not about securing U.S. interests abroad. Companies like Exxon Mobil , ConocoPhillips and Royal Dutch Shell […]

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OAO Gazprom (OGZD) ’s threat to end natural gas discounts for Ukraine adds to the financial burden on the near-bankrupt government in Kiev and makes Europe’s energy supply part of the escalating crisis. Russia ’s gas-export monopoly said on March 1 it may end last year’s agreement to supply Ukraine at a cheaper rate unless it’s paid $1.55 billion owed for fuel. It’s the first time since the otherthrow of pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych last month that Russia has directly used its position as Ukraine’s dominant energy supplier to pressure the new regime. Vladimir Putin , who has permission from lawmakers to deploy troops to Ukraine, has repeatedly used gas to strong-arm his western neighbor, cutting off supplies twice since 2006 over payment disputes. Because Ukraine hosts a network of Soviet-era pipelines that carry more than half of Russia’s gas exports to the European Union, any […]

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The U.S. and its European allies vowed Sunday to isolate Russian President Vladimir Putin and punish his nation’s economy, demanding he withdraw what they called an occupation force from Ukraine’s Crimean region. Washington began canceling joint economic and trade initiatives with Moscow, including preparations for the summit of the Group of Eight leading nations scheduled to be held in Sochi, Russia, in June. Senior U.S. officials said the administration was also beginning discussions with Congress on implementing targeted economic and financial sanctions on Russian companies and leaders if the Kremlin didn’t begin pulling back from Crimea. "Russian forces now have complete operational control of the Crimean peninsula, some 6,000-plus airborne and naval forces, with considerable materiel," a senior official said. "There is no question that they are in an occupation position in Crimea, that they are flying in reinforcements, and they are settling in." Officials in Washington and around […]

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Defending Moscow’s December 18, 2013 agreement to provide Ukraine with an aid package estimated at about $15 billion, and cheaper natural gas through discounts and “gas debt forgiveness” estimated as able to save Ukraine $7 bn in one year, Vladimir Putin said the decision to invest $15 bn in ‘brotherly slavic’ Ukraine, and grant the gas discount was “pragmatic and based on economic facts”. At the time, the “investment” in Ukraine was already conditional – not only on the political issue of Ukrainian loyalty to Moscow – but on Ukraine complying with previous longstanding, often revoked, modified or extended commitments to repay gas debts dating from as far back as the early 1990s.  In December, Russia’s Finance minister Anton Siluanov said payment of the “aid or investment” funds to Ukraine, in tranches of about $2 bn each, would need Ukraine making a serious […]

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LONDON—As tensions ratchet higher in Ukraine’s Crimean peninsula, the country’s port operators, international shipping executives and European energy officials reported few disruptions to the vast commodities infrastructure that has made the country a linchpin in the global economy. Ukraine is a key supplier of wheat and corn, and it exports metals and minerals to Europe, Russia and beyond. Ukrainian farms rank as the world’s fourth and fifth largest exporters of corn and wheat, respectively. Much of that feeds African and Mideast markets. Its mills make it the world’s fifth-largest steel exporter. Ukraine also serves as a critical gateway for Russian natural gas to Western Europe. About a fifth of Europe’s annual gas needs flow across the country. Together with Russia, Ukraine forms the northern coast of the Black Sea, a major shipping route for energy, agricultural products and metals. The current unrest in the Crimean peninsula , which juts […]

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Ukrainian officials failed to turn up to sign a deal Wednesday that could open a natural gas supply route via Slovakia, according to several people familiar with the situation, raising concerns that Kiev was walking away from an agreement the European Union spent months brokering. The gas deal would have opened up a major gas supply route to Ukraine that could have significantly reduced Kiev’s dependence on Russian supplies. The EU had hoped the deal would encourage authorities in Kiev to sign onto an EU trade and political deal. Though President Viktor Yanukovych’s government said two weeks ago that it was putting that trade pact on hold, the gas agreement remained on the table. Ukraine has for years sought cheaper gas from Russia without success, but importing gas from the EU via Slovakia would give it access to large volumes at what Ukraine says would be a lower price. […]

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KIEV, Ukraine, Dec. 4 (UPI) — The director of Ukraine’s national energy company Naftogaz said Russian natural gas company Gazprom agreed to a delay in the repayment of gas debts. Naftogaz Chief Executive Officer Yevgeny Bakulin said his company reached an agreement with Gazprom to defer natural gas payments for winter fuel deliveries until early 2014 because of “problems” in the region, Russia’s state news agency RIA Novosti reported Tuesday. Gazprom in October expressed concern with Ukraine when it hadn’t yet settled an $882 million bill for August natural gas deliveries. Bakulin said some of the outstanding debt had been settled and Gazprom should consider that when making future decisions about gas deliveries to Ukraine. Gazprom, most recently in 2009, cut gas supplies to Ukraine because of outstanding debt. That left downstream consumers in Europe with a gas shortage because the bulk of their gas supplies from Russia run […]

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