The West is considering the 14th package of sanctions against Russia.

On May 22, Director of the European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Artyom Studennikov, announced that Moscow will look for other customers to buy liquefied natural gas (LNG) on the global market, if the European Union (EU) decides to stop importing LNG from Russia.

Consider the adverse effects

The EU has imposed 13 sets of sanctions on Russia since the conflict in Ukraine began in 2022, mainly targeting oil and gas exports. Now some EU member states are accelerating a 14th set of sanctions on Russia to further hamper Russia's revenue from fossil fuels.

According to Bloomberg, the Russian LNG export restrictions could lead to a ban on using EU ports to re-export Russian LNG to third countries outside the union. While the plan would not prevent Russian LNG from reaching Europe, it would make it more difficult to ship LNG to third countries in Asia, such as China or India.

Sanctions will complicate shipping logistics for Russia and force specialized vessels to take longer routes. According to Energy Aspects, the cost of transporting LNG from the Yamal project to Asia will increase; it will also force icebreakers to operate longer, potentially reducing Russia’s LNG exports.

Russian icebreakers will have to operate more if the EU bans the use of ports to re-export Russian LNG to third countries outside the union. Photo: OSW

Belgium, Germany and France have now expressed support for the 14th package of sanctions, asking the European Commission (EC) to assess whether the ban on Russian LNG transit through European ports has a greater impact on the Russian economy than the EU. Observers say it will take several weeks for member states to come up with further sanctions against Russia, including the first-ever restrictions on Russian LNG exports.

New challenges for the EU

In a related development, RIA news agency on May 22 quoted Artyom Studennikov, Director of the European Department of the Russian Foreign Ministry , as saying that Europe is "shooting itself in the foot" because industries and consumers in Europe will suffer from this ban.

Reorienting Russia's vital energy exports to countries like China and India has helped it weather Western sanctions that many analysts had predicted would plunge Russia into a deep recession.

According to Russia's statistics agency Rosstat, the country's economy grew 5.4% in the first quarter of 2024. Meanwhile, EU countries spent 8.2 billion euros ($8.8 billion) importing Russian LNG last year, according to an April report by the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Russian LNG accounted for nearly 14% of the EU's total LNG imports.

The introduction of an EU-wide embargo would bring the EU closer to its goal of completely abandoning Russian gas imports by 2027. However, according to the world's leading energy consultancy Rystad Energy, although European countries have almost completely cut off Russian gas supplies through pipelines, Europe is still largely dependent on Russian LNG supplies.

Russian LNG exports to Europe in the first quarter of 2024 increased by about 5% year-on-year, and replacing these volumes in the short term is a major challenge for the old continent.

Synthesized HINGED CHI

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/phuong-tay-can-nhac-goi-trung-phat-thu-14-nham-vao-nga-post741145.html