UK's Liz Truss asserts Putin 'holding rest of the world to ransom over gas prices'

Amidst the European Union's plan to minimise dependency on Russian energy due to the brutal invasion of Ukraine, the Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom, Liz Truss stated that Russian President Vladimir Putin is holding the rest of the globe hostage over gas prices, and enabling him to win which would result in "untold misery" throughout Europe. She made these statements in response to a question about whether she thought "Vladimir Putin is effectively holding the rest of the world to ransom" by "cutting off supplies to Germany," The Guardian reported. 

Furthermore, the British foreign secretary noted, “That is exactly what he is trying to do and it’s vitally important that we stay strong in the face of his appalling aggression," adding, “If we allow Vladimir Putin to succeed, it will cause untold misery across Europe.” 

“We know that he would not just stop at Ukraine the east of Europe is under threat and democracy is under threat,” Truss said.

In addition to this, the UK's Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng announced on March 8 that the government will gradually stop importing Russian oil by the end of the year in reaction to Russian President Putin's aggressive assaults against Ukraine, despite the fact that the UK has not yet banned Russian oil. 

Germany accused Russia of engaging in a 'power play' over the region's energy supplies

As Russian energy giant Gazprom has decreased the flow of gas to Europe, Germany has charged Russia with engaging in a "power play" over the region's energy supplies. On July 25, Gazprom said that it will reduce its delivery of gas through the Nord Stream 1 pipeline to around 20% of its full capacity. According to Christiane Hoffman, a spokesperson for the German government, they are seeing a "power play" and emphasised that "we won't allow ourselves to be impressed by it," according to The Guardian report. 

The turbine has been serviced, according to Christiane Hoffman, who also noted that the supply agreements are not presently being followed.  

According to The Guardian, only about 17 million kilowatt hours of gas had been received between 8 and 9 am, as compared to over 27 million kilowatt hours of gas that came between 6 and 7 am, the network data from the gas transfer station in Lubmin claimed. 

Meanwhile, the Kremlin refuted allegations that it is waging an "energy war" in Europe on Tuesday, July 26, and asserted that Gazprom, a state-owned firm, has been supplying "as much gas as possible" to the EU in response to demand. According to media reports, Russian President Putin's press secretary, Dmitry Peskov, stated on Tuesday that it would be "wrong" to consider sanctions as a potential explanation for the lower flow of Russian gas supplies to Europe. 

Image: AP