Macron Accused of ‘Betraying’ Ukraine Over Soaring Russian Gas Imports: Report

France received nearly $1 billion worth of Russian gas even while the Kremlin’s bombs were raining down on Ukraine in the past two months, prompting Kyiv to charge the French president, Emmanuel Macron, with “betrayal,” according to a new report in the Telegraph. The British newspaper cited a report by the Finland-based Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air that claims France, as well as Belgium and the Netherlands, ramped up their shipments of Russian energy at discounted prices even as other buyers cut back their buys as the war progressed. An analyst at Crea told the Telegraph that “as the EU is considering stricter sanctions against Russia, France has increased its imports to become the largest buyer” of liquefied natural gas in the world.Russia raked in nearly $97 billion in fossil fuel receipts in the first 100 days of the war, the Crea report documented, and France received 12 shipments of Russian LNG in April and May alone. It would therefore appear that Paris was attempting to import as much Russian gas as possible even as the EU moved toward the imposition of a partial embargo on Russian oil earlier this month. The hypocrisy was not lost on Ukraine: “Those are actions that contradict the words, and provides a whole different context on the calls of the French president,” the head of the Ukrainian parliament’s economic affairs committee, Dmytro Natalukha, said. “Given these statistics, it gives you some doubt over his real willingness to end this conflict in the best interests of Ukraine.”Mr. Macron is already in some diplomatic hot water with respect to his stance on Ukraine. Earlier, he asserted: “We must not humiliate Russia so that when the fighting stops, we can build a way out through diplomatic channels.” That remark prompted widespread scorn. A member of the Ukrainian parliament, Inna Sovsun, stated, “Macron’s call ‘not to humiliate Russia’ is absolutely appalling, and disrespectful towards the victims of Russian aggression. It’s like asking not to humiliate Germany in 1939.”Even Hillary Clinton jumped into that fray, and from Paris, no less. The former secretary of state said in an interview: “When you say you don’t want to humiliate Russia, quite frankly, it seems a bit outdated to me,” adding, Vladimir Putin “crossed the red line a long time ago.” As of May, Russian gas accounted for 20 percent of incoming supplies to French multinational utility company Engie, Reuters reported. French energy giant TotalEnergies has said it will stop purchases of crude and other oil products from Russia by the end of the year, but that is more than half a year away. Meanwhile the analyst at Crea, Lauri Myllyvirta, said that most of the French buys across the board were spot purchases and not long-term contracts, which point to a deliberate decision by Paris to use Kremlin energy during the course of the invasion against any available alternatives. An official French diplomatic Twitter feed on Tuesday made no mention of the report, but did state generically that “we stand united with Ukraine against the Russian aggression.”There is a difference between standing and standing tall, however. Only last week Mr. Natalukha urged his “German, Austrian, and other colleagues” to “recall” that in his view they don’t control their gas prices or supply, that Russia is influencing their sovereign decisions, and that “Russia is sure you’re their colony.”An opportunity for Mr. Macron to cool the waters, at least temporarily, may be approaching. The French president, together with the German chancellor and the Italian prime minister, are reportedly planning to travel to Kyiv as soon as this week, ahead of the G7 summit in Germany at the end of June. The trip has not yet been officially confirmed.

Macron Accused of ‘Betraying’ Ukraine Over Soaring Russian Gas Imports: Report

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