Vladimir Putin, Russian President, warned Friday, July 8, of the possible "catastrophic” consequences of Western sanctions on the global energy market.
Vladimir Putin warned that further use of sanctions could have even more severe, exaggerated and even fatal consequences for the global oil market.
Moscow's offensive in Ukraine at the end February prompted unprecedented Western sanctions. Washington and Brussels imposed an embargo against Russian oil.
Moscow has cut its gas supplies to Europe in response to Western sanctions. Despite recent efforts to diversify their suppliers, Europeans are still heavily dependent on Russian hydrocarbons.
He said, "Sanctions against Russia do more damage precisely because they are imposed by them," which he repeated again. This phrase is a repetition he uses over and over, noting the soaring energy prices of the West.
He was happy to see that oil-producing nations are not allowing Western pressure to increase oil production in order to offset the boycott of Russian oil and to prevent a price rise.
In June, the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine reached an all-time low. Added to all this, Germans are increasingly concerned about the Nord Stream 1 pipeline's shutdown on Monday due to maintenance.
Inflation has risen as a result. This is threatening to permanently limit consumption and growth.
