Unexpectedly (Only To The Super Geniuses In The White House) Putin Turns Things Up A Notch
Hey Europe! Nice heat you’ve got there…be a pity if something were to happen to it
Putin mocks the West and threatens to turn off gas supplies
Russian leader says does not want ‘new cold war’ but threatens to disrupt European gas suppliesVladimir Putin has mocked diplomatic efforts to end the Ukraine crisis as Russia threatened to disrupt European gas supplies by cutting off sales to Kiev over its unpaid debts.
The Russian president said through his official spokesman that, despite deep disagreements with the West, he did not want a confrontation over Ukraine to spiral into a “new cold war”.
Nevertheless Dmitry Peskov ridiculed Western demands for direct talks between the Kremlin and the new Kiev government, claiming that the loss of credibility involved “puts a smile on our face”.
… Earlier, Gazprom, Russia’s state-owned energy giant, said it would start to reduce deliveries to Kiev, a move that would disrupt supplies to Europe. Gazprom said Ukraine had failed to make payments on its £1.2 billion debts.
Ukraine is one of the main transit routes for the continent’s gas and the suspension of Gazprom exports in freezing temperatures in 2006 and in 2009 endangered national grids and caused sharp rises in prices. “We can’t supply gas for free,” Alexey Miller, the head of Gazprom, said. “Either Ukraine settles its debt and pays for current deliveries or the risk arises of a return to the situation we saw at the start of 2009.”
Energy experts said Russia had the power to cause problems in markets across Europe, even though peak winter demand was past. “Europe still relies heavily – in some cases 100 per cent – on Russian gas. And if that was interrupted very suddenly, there would be difficulties all round,” said Lord Howell, the former energy secretary.
Military Thingies, Politics, World Stuff | Mr. Bingley | 
March 8, 2014 7:57 am
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Which is why France is still going to finish building and turnover a couple helicopter carriers to the Russians. I said it before and I’ll say it again: The EU will not mess with losing 1/3 of its Oil and Gas supply.
B-b-b-b-ut strong letters and Red Lines™ !!!
Obama ran out of Red Line paint back in Syria.
Putin 2, “Schmart Powah” 0
Russia’s economy is one dimensional. Take away the oil and they have bread lines. Bread lines lead to unrest. Unrest leads to Putin’s demise. His threats are all Russian bluster (a soft phrase for “utter bullshit”) but that won’t stop the Euro cowards from buckling.