End of Russian gas transit via Ukraine one of Moscow's 'most costly defeats,' White House says

The recent shutdown of Russia's gas transit through Ukrainian territory is one of Moscow's "most costly defeats," U.S. National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said, as reported by Ukrinform on Jan. 8.

Ukraine terminated Russian natural gas transit through its territory on Jan. 1. Kyiv had repeatedly warned that it would not extend the agreement when it expires at the end of 2024 because it did not want to finance Russia's war.

Ukraine's move will deprive Russia of about $6.5 billion in annual revenue from gas sales to Europe, according to Kirby. The spokesperson added that the U.S. also tries to make Russia suffer losses through sanctions and export restrictions.

Meanwhile, Washington is trying to increase energy supplies to Europe, particularly liquefied natural gas (LNG). According to Kirby, currently, 50% of European LNG imports come from the U.S.

The spokesperson mentioned that 25 years ago, when Russian President Vladimir Putin took office, more than 130 billion cubic meters of gas were transported to Europe through Ukraine, and today this figure is zero.

Following Ukraine's termination of Russian gas transportation through its territory, gas prices in Europe rose by 4.3% to almost 51 euros per megawatt-hour. This rise is the highest since October 2023 and comes ahead of freezing temperatures forecast across much of Europe.

The halt also coincided with a major gas outage in Moldova's Russian-occupied Transnistria region, which relied on transit through Ukraine, according to its gas supplier Tiraspoltransgaz-Pridnestrovie.

Russia's state-owned energy giant Gazprom claimed that the halt of gas supplies to Moldova was caused by alleged unpaid debt by Chisinau rather than transit issues.

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The Kyiv IndependentYulia Svyrydenko