I think the EU blaming Russia is crap and even Merkel said that. Russia wanted long term contracts. Most countries wanted to buy on the spot/current market. They got what they wanted.
Russia is fulfilling all contractual obligations. Germany shut down their nuke plants and relied on wind power, which is not reliable. I read that the wind is not blowing much right now.
Now European countries want to buy on the spot market and bitch about the price and expect Russia to sell as much as they want on a moments notice. Russia wanted to be part of Europe but that upset the US military industrial complex and some politicians in the EU. There were embargoes on trading with Russia, which screwed and will screw Ukraine very, very badly. So Russia buddied up to China and is selling them gas.
In case people forgot, mere months ago, many EU countries and the US tried to stop the Nordstream 2 pipeline from being completed. Now they want an infinite supply of gas and they want it now.
BTW Germany begged Russia to build the new pipeline as they realized that shutting down the nukes made them short on energy. Then Russia built the pipeline and got a ration of sh*t at the last minute.
Ukraine had the habit of not paying for their nat gas bills and siphoning off gas meant for Europe. They called this 'reverse flow.' Ha! This pissed off the Russians.
Hungary recently bought gas from Russia. This pissed of the EU who is so power mad they want only the EU to buy gas, not individual countries.
https://youtu.be/H8ZXLw47cfQGermany demolishes nuclear power plant in a controlled explosion (cooling towers).https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-06/merkel-dismisses-russian-role-in-europe-s-energy-price-crisisMerkel Dismisses Russian Role in Europe’s Energy Price Crisis
By Arne Delfs
October 6, 2021, 9:29 AM CDT
Outgoing German Chancellor Angela Merkel dismissed charges that Russian leader Vladimir Putin is partly to blame for the record spikes in European gas prices.
“To my knowledge, there are no orders where Russia has said we won’t deliver it to you, especially not with regard to the pipeline in Ukraine,” Merkel told reporters Wednesday. “Russia can only deliver gas on the basis of contractual obligations, and not just only like that.”
https://voxday.net/2021/10/08/dont-blame-russia-if-europe-freezes/Don’t Blame Russia if Europe Freezes
Even Angela Merkel has admitted that the European natural gas shortage is not Russia’s fault:
German Chancellor Angela Merkel has rejected suggestions that the increased price of gas is due to Russian policy. Instead she has pointed the finger at the EU’s own approach asking whether the bloc could have acted differently.
Speaking on Wednesday, Merkel noted that Russia has never refused to deliver gas and has fulfilled its contractual obligations.
“That’s why we should ask the question: was enough gas ordered, or is the high price at the moment maybe the reason for not ordering so much?” Merkel asked, according to London’s Financial Times.
The European Union has sought to move gas trading to the spot market in recent years, whereas Russia has consistently preferred long-term contracts, often as long as 25 years. Russian President Vladimir Putin has pointed at the reluctance of the bloc to sign longer deals as a cause for rising prices.
So, the Europeans didn’t order enough natural gas to meet their needs, shut down their nuclear plants, and chose to rely upon green energy production that has fallen woefully short of requirements. But since Putin refuses to sell them additional gas at contract prices at the same time they are trying to deny Russia’s ability to deliver gas via the new Nordstream 2 pipeline, this is somehow supposed to be all Russia’s fault.
