Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday blamed the United States and Europe for the energy problems they’re facing, saying they stoked fears about climate change to boost support for renewable energy but then underinvested.
Speaking on Russian TV, Putin said those countries adopted a short-sighted policy that relied too heavily on renewable energy sources such as solar, wind and hydrogen.
Those technologies weren’t yet ready for massive deployment or were too expensive, he said, and Europe and the United States downplayed the role of what they were supposed to replace: hydrocarbons.
The result was under-development and under-investment in energy, and an increase in prices, according to Putin.
Exacerbating the problem, in his view, is that Europeans – despite Moscow’s warnings – declined to maintain long-term natural gas supply contracts with Russia.
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The higher natural gas prices also increased fertilizer costs. Natural gas is heavily used in fertilizer manufacturing.
“But we warned about that, and it’s not connected in any way to Russia’s military operation in Donbass,” Putin added.
Several European countries are heavily dependent on Russia oil and natural gas and have been rushing to find alternatives now that they have adopted sanctions — including energy embargoes — against Moscow for its military operation in Ukraine.
According to a report, the Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday blamed the West for emerging global food and energy crises and repeated his governments offers of safe passage for ships exporting grain from Ukraine if mines are removed from the waters. Of course, we are now seeing attempts to shift the responsibility for what is happening on the world food market, the emerging problems in this market, onto Russia, he told Russian TV. I must say that this is an attempt, as our people say, to shift these problems from a sick to a healthy head.
As reported by the state-run Tass news agency, Putin also said Western sanctions against Russia would only worsen world markets reducing the harvest and driving up prices.
He said inflation stemmed from the unprecedented dollar printing press during the coronavirus pandemic and blamed short-sighted European policies for under-investment in alternatives to traditional energy supplies and price increases. The Kremlin leader said Russia wasnt blocking grain shipments from Ukraine and that the West is using Russia as a scapegoat for its problems.
Putin pledged that if the waters were demined, Russia wouldnt attack grain shipments and suggested they could be made from the Ukrainian port of Berdyansk or other countries, such as Belarus. Berdyansk is under Russian occupation.
Putins positions on these issues conflict with explanations given by Ukraine and its allies.
