Western leaders accuse Russia of weaponizing gas, but in reality it is its own sanctions that have caused this crisis. The West can easily end its energy crisis by lifting the sanctions it has imposed on Russia.
In a Bastille Day interview, French President Emmanuel Macron told citizens that “Prepare for a scenario where we have to completely do without Russian gas.” At the same time, Macron accused Moscow of using the fuel as a “weapon of war,” echoing the twist emanating from a European Union leadership that obscures the real reason the bloc faces an energy shortage that is looming. raising the cost of living.
This crisis is entirely self-inflicted
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen accused Russia of energy “blackmail” in late April, citing state-owned Gazprom’s announcement to stop gas deliveries to Poland and Bulgaria for failing to pay in rubles. What von der Leyen, and now Macron, conveniently left out was that it was the EU’s own anti-Russian sanctions, adopted instinctively and ideologically driven at the start of the Ukraine conflict, that represent the root cause of these disruptions. .
The West quickly adopted a strategy of targeting and sanctioning various aspects of the Russian financial system, including foreign banks and reserves, isolating it from the global SWIFT transaction system, and then had the nerve to complain that Moscow was demanding payment for its gas. exports in your own currency to mitigate the hassle of navigating a system you were effectively locked out of. “Export your gasoline, but good luck trying to get paid.” is not a reasonable expectation.
It was not Russian President Vladimir Putin who asked the EU to cut off Russian gas. Rather, it was his Ukrainian counterpart, Vladimir Zelensky, who has consistently pushed for more Western sanctions on Russian fossil fuels. And the West has only been happy to recklessly indulge him to the detriment of its own citizens.
Earlier this month, Zelensky even admonished Canada for agreeing to return repaired turbines for reintegration into the Nord Stream 1 pipeline that supplies gas to Germany, and demanded that Ottawa reverse its decision. Canada had previously faced the dilemma of violating the West’s own anti-Russian sanctions by virtue of even returning critical parts, even though the pipeline is so vital to EU industry that the bloc’s leaders have even gone nuts over it. its scheduled maintenance shutdown.
Why would he be so worried that Russia won’t turn the tap back on when he has repeatedly been saying that he will gladly do without it “for Ukraine”?
But even in defending the return of turbines, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau cited the same ridiculous Western propaganda about Russia “weaponizing” gas, when in fact it is the West’s own sanctions that have wreaked havoc. energetic and caused all this drama.
“We have seen Russia constantly trying to weaponize energy as a way to create division among allies,” Trudeau said. So if Canada doesn’t violate its own sanctions and return the turbines to Germany, then Putin wins. The Olympic-level rhetorical gymnastics required by Western leaders to justify violating their own failed sanctions is second only to their recent defense of turning coal power plants back on and redefining fossil fuel energy as “green,” amid the current shortage.
EU leaders are calling for an end to Russian energy imports, citing its decision to sanction its own gas supplies as a reason to speed up the transition to unproven renewables. But instead of taking responsibility for the fact that they set fire to their sails and are now stranded in the middle of the ocean while they await the manifestation of their renewable energy transition fantasy, they blame Russia for their own myopia and try to give it the upper hand. lap. as an energy retention orchestrated by Moscow.
Russia is happy to sell its fuel to anyone who wants to buy it. And if the EU sanctions were lifted, the Western energy crisis would end. But that would mean admitting a failed policy. So instead, we are told that it is all Putin’s fault, but also that the best way to hit Vladimir Putin is to take short, cold showers and reduce “night lighting,” as Macron recently suggested.
Western leaders are not only playing their citizens for gullible fools with their ridiculous propaganda as a cover for their own failures, they are treating the livelihood of the average person as economic collateral damage in their desperate attempt to isolate Russia. They themselves are convinced, from their ideologically isolated elite bubble, that they represent the entire world. But they are mostly kidding themselves.
Even the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, admitted to having had a rude awakening recently at the G20 summit. “The G7 and like-minded countries are united in condemning and sanctioning Russia and trying to hold the regime to account.” Borrell said in a statement on the EU website. “But other countries – and we can talk here about most of the ‘Global South’ – often take a different perspective.”
But then Borrell gave the game away. “The global battle of narratives is in full swing and, for now, we are not winning it,” he said. “As the EU, we have to commit ourselves more to refute Russian lies and war propaganda.” But who is really selling the propaganda? On the one hand, the EU has been trying to portray the impact of its own irresponsible and devastating sanctions on its own economies and citizens as Putin is doing, even as he tries to convince Westerners that their suffering is some kind of war effort. that is hurting Russia.
In reality, however, Russia may turn to the rest of the world and simply leave Western Europeans to wallow in their own costly deceptions. They may be about to find out if self-righteousness and signs of virtue will warm the house or feed the kids this winter.