Official Washington expects that the termination of the contract for the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine will be a powerful step towards ending the era of Europe's dependence on Russian energy resources.
Points of attention
- The United States and the European Commission actively support the decision to abandon Russian energy resources.
- Russian gas was the main tool of influence on the Ukrainian economy, so it is important to look for alternatives.
- The international community is increasingly aware of the dangers of Russia's control over energy markets.
Russia will lose another sphere of influence
Deputy Secretary of State Jeffrey Pyatt made a statement on this matter.
Journalists asked him to comment on the pressure on Ukraine to extend the contract for the transit of Russian gas.
According to Payette, it is important to realize that the pressure comes from only one or two countries, and "the signal from the European Commission is very clear."
Against this background, a State Department representative supported the decision of European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen.
As is known, the latter announced its refusal from Russian gas, as well as its intention to gradually eliminate dependence in the gas, nuclear, and all forms of dependence on Russian energy resources.
The key goal is to reach zero supplies from Russia by 2027.
Russia must lose another lever of influence over Ukraine
According to Payette, no one in the United States understands why it is necessary to prolong an agreement that has allowed Russia to exert influence over Ukraine for many years.
Energy trade, especially gas, has been the main vector of Russian influence on the Ukrainian economy since independence. For God's sake, who cares? Who could possibly be interested in continuing this relationship?
Jeffrey Payette
Deputy Head of the US Department of State
He believes that there is an understanding on the world stage of the need to abandon Russian energy resources.
Even Japan — and I spoke about this with both the Minister of Energy and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Japan on Thursday and Friday — even Japan, which gets about 10% of its gas from Sakhalin, even it clearly realizes that Russia is an unreliable supplier.
