Erdogan accepts the Kremlin’s version: the energy crisis in Europe is connected with sanctions against Russia

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan yesterday blamed the European energy crisis on sanctions imposed on Russia in response to its invasion of Ukraine. Erdogan maintains good relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin, while trying to remain neutral in the conflict and supplying Ukraine with Turkish-made weapons and combat drones. Before leaving for a three-country tour in the Balkans, he told reporters that European countries were “reaping what they sowed” by imposing economic restrictions on Russia. And he said that “the position of Europe towards Mr. Putin, its sanctions prompted him – whether he wanted it or not – to say: if you do this, I will do it (for my part).” “He uses all his means and weapons. Unfortunately, natural gas is one of them.” Erdogan’s comments match those of the Kremlin published this week. On Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov blamed “the sanctions imposed on our country” for cutting off Russian gas supplies to Germany via Nord Stream. Russia provided about half of Turkey’s natural gas purchases last year. Ankara promised to gradually move towards paying for Russian imports in rubles at the Erdogan-Putin summit in Sochi earlier this month. Analysts believe that the agreement will ensure the continuation of gas supplies to Turkey from Russia via the Turkish Stream pipeline passing through the Black Sea. Erdogan said he does not expect his country to face energy shortages this year. “I think Europe will have problems this winter,” he said. “We don’t have that situation.” Rising global energy prices as a result of supply disruptions from Russia triggered an economic crisis in Turkey, where annual inflation reached 80 percent and the value of the lira collapsed. China will pay for Russian gas supplies in yuan and rubles (Gazprom). “A transfer has been made to complete payments for Russian gas supplies to China in the national currencies of the two countries – rubles and yuan,” Gazprom said in a statement. Russia has generated €158 billion in fuel export revenue in the six months since the start of the war in Ukraine, capitalizing on higher prices, according to an independent think tank report released yesterday, calling for more effective sanctions. A report by the Finnish Center for Energy and Clean Air Research (CREA) states that “rising fossil fuel prices mean that Russia’s current revenues are much higher than in previous years, despite the decline in exports.” . Gas prices rose to historic levels in Europe, and oil prices rose at the start of the war before falling recently. The authors of the report said that “fossil fuel exports contributed about 43 billion euros to Russia’s federal budget, which helped fund the war in Ukraine.” These figures were calculated for the first six months of the war after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, from 24 February to 24 August. During this period, CREA estimated that the European Union was the main importer of Russian fossil fuels (at €85.1 billion), followed by China and Turkey. The European Union has decided to gradually introduce a ban on the import of oil and oil products from Russia. It has also stopped buying coal, but not the Russian gas on which it is so dependent. However, the think tank believes the European coal ban, which went into effect on August 10, has paid off as Russian exports have since fallen to their lowest level since the invasion of Ukraine. “Russia has not found other buyers,” the authors of the report write.