BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union officials are holding emergency gas talks following Russia’s decision to abruptly cut supplies to Poland and Bulgaria, according to the bloc’s top official.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said Gazprom’s announcement “is yet another attempt by Russia to use gas as an instrument of blackmail.”
Von der Leyen lashed out at what he described as an “unjustified and unacceptable” move that highlighted “Russia’s unreliability as a gas supplier.” Von der Leyen, the head of the EU executive branch, said a meeting of the gas coordination group was taking place, adding that the 27 countries in the region are prepared to weather Russia’s cuts.
“Member states have implemented contingency plans for such a scenario and we work with them in coordination and solidarity,” he said. “We are mapping out our coordinated EU response. We will also continue to work with international partners to secure alternative flows.”
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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:
— UN chief and Russia’s Putin key Ukraine evacuation agreed
— Poland, Bulgaria says Russia suspend the supply of natural gas
— Russia eliminated as hosts 2023 world championships in men’s ice hockey
— United States urges more weapons for Ukraine amid fears of expanding war
Follow all AP stories about Russia’s war against Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:
LONDON — British military officials say Ukraine retains control of most of the country’s airspace as Russia has failed to destroy Ukraine’s air force or suppress its air defenses.
The UK MoD, in an intelligence update released Wednesday morning, says Russian air activity is focused on supporting ground forces in southern and eastern Ukraine.
The ministry says the Russian air force has “very limited” access to northern and western Ukraine, limiting it to long-range strikes with missiles and other “distanced” weapons.
The ministry also says that most of the airstrikes in the southern city of Mariupol are likely to be carried out with unguided bombs, which are difficult to hit and increase civilian casualties.
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SOFIA, Bulgaria – Energy Minister Alexander Nikolov said Wednesday that Bulgaria can meet users’ needs for at least a month, after Russia’s Gazprom gave the country a one-day notice that power would be suspended. gas supply.
He said that the gas is still flowing as he spoke.
“Alternative supplies are available, and Bulgaria hopes that alternative routes and supplies are also secured at the EU level,” Nikolov said, referring to a meeting of EU experts scheduled for Wednesday to plan next steps. He added that Poland and Lithuania are in the same situation as Bulgaria.
The Bulgarian side has fully complied with its obligations and made all payments required under its current contract in a timely manner, strictly and in accordance with its terms, Nikolov said, and Bulgaria paid in advance for the supplies in April, showing that Gazprom He has breached his contract.
“Obviously gas is used as a political tool,” he said. “As long as I am a minister, Bulgaria will not negotiate under pressure, Bulgaria is not for sale and does not succumb to any commercial counterpart.”
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LONDON – UK Foreign Secretary Liz Truss is calling on Britain to increase defense spending and provide Ukraine with more heavy weapons as the West seeks to counter Russian aggression.
In a speech to be delivered Wednesday night, Truss will say that a “generation of underinvestment” in the military led to the invasion of Ukraine, according to excerpts reported by the Daily Telegraph. He adds that the goal of NATO members spending 2% of gross domestic product on defense should be considered a minimum.
Truss will also say Britain must “double down” on support for Ukraine, deepening inventories and increasing production so it can provide heavy weapons, tanks and planes to help repel the invasion ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“If Putin succeeds, there will be untold misery throughout Europe and dire consequences throughout the world,” Truss plans to say. “We would never feel safe again.”
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LVIV, Ukraine: European gas prices have soared by as much as 24% following Gazprom’s statement that it would suspend deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria from Wednesday because it has not received any payments from them since April 1. Dutch benchmark futures traded at one point around €125 per megawatt hour.
Fatih Birol, executive director of the Paris-based International Energy Agency, called Russia’s decision to cut off natural gas supplies to Bulgaria and Poland the “weaponization of the energy supply.”
“Gazprom’s decision to completely cut off gas supplies to Poland is yet another sign of Russia’s politicization of existing deals and will only accelerate European efforts to move away from Russian energy supplies,” he tweeted on Wednesday. morning.
He said Russia’s decision “makes it clearer than ever that Europe needs to move quickly to reduce its dependence on Russian energy.”
The increase comes even as the weather turns warmer in Europe, reducing demand for natural gas to heat homes and businesses.
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MOSCOW — Russian state-controlled natural gas giant Gazprom says it has cut gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria after they refused to pay for shipments in rubles.
He warned that if they divert gas destined for other European customers, deliveries to Europe will be reduced to that amount.
The move follows Russian President Vladimir Putin’s order to switch payments for Russian gas supplied to Europe to rubles.
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BEIJING – Drone company DJI Technology Co. said it will temporarily suspend business activities in Russia and Ukraine to ensure its products are not used during hostilities.
“DJI is internally re-evaluating compliance requirements in various jurisdictions. Pending the current review, DJI will temporarily suspend all commercial activities in Russia and Ukraine,” the company said in a statement.
The declaration makes it one of the few Chinese companies to have publicly withdrawn from Russia. While many Western brands and companies have withdrawn from the Russian market in protest of its invasion of Ukraine, many Chinese companies have continued to operate in the country. China continues to refrain from directly criticizing Russia for the war.
The suspension comes more than a month after Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister Mykhailo Fedorov wrote an open letter calling on DJI to block sales of its drones in Russia, claiming Russians were using “DJI products”. in the Ukraine to navigate their missiles to kill. civilians.”
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POKROVSK, Ukraine — As Russian forces intensify their bombardment in eastern Ukraine, more people are fleeing their homes in search of safety.
In Pokrovsk, a city in the Donetsk region, people lined up Tuesday to board a train heading to the far west of the country along the border with Hungary and Slovakia. One person was put on the train in a wheelchair and another on a stretcher.
The passengers took cats, dogs, some bags and boxes, and the memory of those who did not flee in time.
“We were in the basement, but my daughter did not survive and she got shrapnel on the doorstep” during Monday’s shelling, Mykola Kharchenko, 74, said. “We had to bury her in the garden near the pear tree.”
He said his village, Vremivka, about 70 kilometers (40 miles) from Pokrovsk, was under heavy fire for four days and everything was destroyed. With tears in his eyes, Kharchenko said that he somehow held his own at home, but once he arrived at the train station he fell apart.
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UNITED NATIONS — The UN says Secretary-General António Guterres and Russian President Vladimir Putin have agreed in principle that the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross should participate in the evacuation of civilians from a besieged steel plant in the Ukrainian city , in southeastern Ukraine. Mariupol.
UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that during their one-on-one meeting on Tuesday, Guterres and Putin “discussed proposals for humanitarian assistance and evacuation of civilians from conflict zones, specifically in relation to the situation in Mariupol.”
The sprawling Azovstal steel plant has been almost completely destroyed by Russian attacks, but it is the last pocket of organized Ukrainian resistance in Mariupol.
Some 2,000 soldiers and 1,000 civilians are said to be hiding in bunkers below the wrecked structure.
Dujarric said that following the principle of the Guterres-Putin agreement, talks will be held with the UN humanitarian office and the Russian Defense Ministry on the evacuation.
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WASHINGTON — The State Department says American diplomats have begun returning to Ukraine by taking day trips to temporary offices in the western city of Lviv from neighboring Poland.
The department said the first group of diplomats crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border and traveled to Lviv on Tuesday morning before returning to Poland later that day.
The step came just two days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken told Ukrainian leaders during a secretly shrouded visit to kyiv that the United States would begin re-staffing its diplomatic facilities in Ukraine this week.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said the agency has expedited its review of the reopening of the US embassy in kyiv, which was closed shortly before Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. He said that operations at the embassy would resume as soon as possible depending on the security situation. in the capital.
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