Russian President Vladimir Putin seems to be warming up to the idea that Russia could let Europe freeze this winter.
The European Union has suggested in recent hours that it will be considering imposing a price cap on Russian gas in an attempt to squeeze Putin further and restrict the Kremlin’s ability to fund the war in Ukraine.
Putin, citing a Russian fairy tale in which a fox lets a wolf’s tail freeze, threatened Wednesday that Russia could cut off energy supplies to Europe if European governments go through with the price caps.
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“We will not supply anything outside the contracts. We will not do anything that they try to force us to do,” Putin said at the Eastern Economic Forum, according to Pravda. “The only thing we can do is to keep on saying the line from a well-known Russian fairytale—Freeze, freeze, the wolf's tail!”
Putin referenced a Russian fable in which a sly fox and a wolf enter into a back-and-forth fight. Each takes turns getting mad at and playing tricks on the other. In the end, the fox lets his rage take over, and tricks the wolf into freezing his tail through an ice hole in a river until villagers arrive to beat him.
The cruel remarks coincide with Russia using energy as a way to try to get its way in Europe. Just days ago, Russia announced Moscow was halting Nord Stream 1 pipeline gas flows to Europe, due to some maintenance work. But when the pipeline was supposed to come back online early this month, Russia said it would remain closed until the West lifts sanctions on Russia.
“Problems in pumping arose because of the sanctions imposed against our country and against a number of companies by Western states, including Germany and the UK. There are no other reasons that would lead to problems with pumping,” Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, according to Interfax.
The White House, European lawmakers, and the European Council say Moscow is using energy as a weapon to try to ease sanctions even though Russia continues to wage war in Ukraine.
“What we see Russia is doing—we’ve been very clear about this—is that they’re using energy, they’re weaponizing energy,” White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters Tuesday.
Uncertainties about the coming winter could put pressure on Europe, as prices are already high in Europe and threaten to jump higher as the cold months approach, according to Rystad Energy.
“Power spot prices across Western Europe have climbed to unparalleled levels,” Rystad Energy said. “Now there is a risk of even higher prices during the winter months as Russia has halted all gas exports through Nord Stream 1 for an indefinite period.”
European Commission leadership has acknowledged the risks at hand.
“We are facing an extraordinary situation, because Russia is an unreliable supplier and is manipulating our energy markets,” Ursula von der Leyen, the president of the European Commission, said Wednesday.
And although Russia is dangling energy resources over European countries as winter approaches in the hopes that they will cave to Moscow’s demands and ease up on sanctions, European countries appear prepared to develop alternative solutions.
“The objective here is very clear. We must cut Russia's revenues, which Putin uses to finance this atrocious war against Ukraine,” von der Leyen said.
European Union energy ministers are set to meet later this week to discuss priorities.
European Union members have also in recent weeks agreed to cut gas consumption by 15 percent from August this year to the end of March next year “in order to prepare for possible disruptions of gas supplies from Russia.”
Europe is also working to diversify its energy resources, including by making investments in renewable energies through RePowerEU. European countries have also bumped up deliveries of LNG gas from the United States, Norway, Algeria, and Azerbaijan, according to the European Commission. And in the meantime, Russia’s pipeline gas made up 40 percent of Europe’s imported gas, but now has dropped to just 9 percent of the imports, according to von der Leyen.
Nonetheless, Europeans might soon face off with rolling blackouts to cutting power, Rystad Energy warned.
