November 15, 2024 19:39 GMT
ENERGY: Putin Tells Scholz that Russia is Willing to Consider Energy Cooperation
ENERGY
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Russia’s President Vladimir Putin told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz Nov. 15 that Moscow is ready to pursue cooperation with Germany if Berlin is interested, according to a statement by the Kremlin.
- This was the first phone conversation between the two leaders since Dec. 2022.
- "It was emphasised that Russia has always strictly fulfilled its treaty and contractual obligations in the energy sector and is ready for mutually beneficial cooperation if the German side shows interest in this," the statement said.
- Putin set out the same position he has stated for months that any peace deal must address Moscow’s security interests and be based on “new territorial realities”.
- Germany had been reliant on Moscow for gas supplies before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but direct shipments stopped when the Nord Stream pipelines were blown up in 2022.
- The EU has accused Russia of using “energy blackmail” – restricting gas flows to pressure the EU’s position on Ukraine - during the height of the crisis in 2022.
- Before Nord Stream was destroyed, flows via the pipeline in the summer of 2022 were repeatedly restricted, which Russia attributed to essential maintenance.
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