Europe must prepare for complete cut-off of Russian gas, says Ursula von der Leyen
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU needs to make emergency plans to prepare for a complete cut-off of Russian gas.
The EU chief accused Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, of using energy as a weapon in an address to lawmakers in Strasbourg today.
The commission is working on a “European emergency plan” with the first proposals to be presented by the middle of the month, she said.
Von der Leyen said:
If worst comes to worst, then we have to be prepared.
She stressed the importance of having a European overview and coordinated approach “to a potential complete cut-off of Russian gas”.
Putin continues to use energy as a weapon.
12 Member States are affected by gas supply reductions.
We need coordination at EU level: @EU_Commission will soon present a 🇪🇺 emergency plan.
We will work to protect our Single Market and industrial supply chains from disruptions. pic.twitter.com/stAz1Z4fOC— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 6, 2022
Key events:
Jennifer Rankin
The European parliament has backed plans to label gas and nuclear energy as “green”, rejecting appeals from Ukraine and climate activists that the proposals are a gift to Vladimir Putin.
One senior MEP said the vote was a “dark day for the climate”, while experts said the EU had set a dangerous precedent for countries to follow.
The row began late last year with the leak of long-awaited details on the EU’s green investment guidebook, intended to help investors channel billions to the clean power transition.
The European Commission decided some gas and nuclear projects could be included in the EU taxonomy of environmentally sustainable economic activities, subject to certain conditions.
Under the plans, gas can be classed as a sustainable investment if “the same energy capacity cannot be generated with renewable sources” and plans are in place to switch to renewables or “low-carbon gases”. Nuclear power can be called green if a project promises to deal with radioactive waste.
Svitlana Krakovska, a Ukrainian climate scientist and member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), said: “I am in shock. Russia’s war against Ukraine is a war paid for by climate-heating fossil fuels and the European parliament just voted to boost billions of funding to fossil gas from Russia. How in the world is that in line with Europe’s stance to protect our planet and stand with Ukraine?”
Britain’s prime minister, Boris Johnson, has been giving evidence to the Commons liaison committee including covering the situation in Ukraine.
Asked what he considers victory for Ukraine, Johnson replies that it is ultimately up to Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, to decide the terms “but he’s been very clear that he would like to return at least to the status quo” before Russia’s invasion on 24 February.
Johnson says even if Zelenskiy wanted to do a land deal in exchange for peace, Russia’s president Vladimir Putin isn’t offering any such deal.
He says the UK government is helping Ukrainians with de-mining areas of the country and “doing what we can” to help small packets of grain to leave the country on rail routes.
As our Andrew Sparrow writes, it is not obvious from the questions that MPs on the committee have been closely following what is happening elsewhere in the building.
Andrew is covering the developments from the UK on our politics live blog.
Donetsk governor urges people to flee after more civilian deaths
Daniel Boffey
The governor of Donetsk, the last remaining eastern province of Ukraine partially under Kyiv’s control, has urged the region’s 350,000 people to flee amid reports of fresh deaths and injuries.
At least seven civilians have been killed in Russian shelling over the past 24 hours and 25 are said to have been wounded as the Kremlin continues to step up its offensive in eastern Ukraine.
Donetsk’s governor, Pavlo Kyrylenko, said two people had died in the region’s central city of Avdiivka while fatalities were also reported in Sloviansk, Krasnohorivka and Kurakhove.
Kyrylenko said:
The destiny of the whole country will be decided by the Donetsk region. Once there are less people, we will be able to concentrate more on our enemy and perform our main tasks.
After declaring victory in the province of Luhansk, Vladimir Putin has set as his latest public goal the “liberation” of the eastern Donbas region, made up of Luhansk and Donetsk, but his forces continue to face stiff resistance.
Luhansk’s governor, Serhiy Haidai, said on Wednesday that resistance was ongoing in villages around the city of Lysychansk, where 15,000 civilians remain.
On Telegram, Haidai said:
Today’s videos from Lysychansk are painful to watch.
He accused Putin’s troops of engaging in a scorched earth policy, “burning down and destroying everything on their way”.
UK’s ratification of Sweden and Finland joining Nato to be fast-tracked – Truss
British foreign secretary Liz Truss has announced that the UK’s ratification of Finland and Sweden’s membership of Nato will be fast-tracked through parliament in London.
While it has been a very busy day in British politics today, as my colleague Andrew Sparrow is covering on our UK politics live blog, there is still some government business being done.
Truss, who would be a frontrunner to replace the beleaguered prime minister Boris Johnson, has just tweeted about the process of the UK ratifying Finland and Sweden’s application to join Nato. She said:
Important moment signing the instrument of ratification to fast-track Nato membership for Finland & Sweden. It will now go to Washington to come into force. Russian aggression is being met with unity and resolve.
Truss then linked to her written statement to parliament which says, in part:
The government is committed to strengthening security and defence at home and overseas. A strong Nato is at the heart of our ability to deter and defend against state adversaries.
With Russia conducting an illegal and barbaric war in mainland Europe, it is unsurprising that countries that already work closely with Nato would consider applying to join the alliance and to benefit from its collective security guarantees. We must ensure that Finland and Sweden are integrated into Nato as quickly as possible.
She then says she will move that the accession is ratified on a fast-track before parliamentary recess on 21 July without the usual process of ratifying a treaty. She says
Using this process will ensure the UK’s part is concluded swiftly and use our example to encourage other Allies to think radically about how quickly they can respectively ratify Sweden and Finland’s accession. All thirty Allies need to ratify the protocols before Finland and Sweden can join the Alliance. I have been pushing my Allied colleagues hard to complete the ratification process as soon as possible. It is important that the UK does everything we can to do likewise.
She cites the risk that Finland and/or Sweden could be attacked by Russia prior to them coming under the umbrella of Nato’s collective security, saying: “Russia has already made several threatening comments in the public domain regarding the possibility of Swedish and Finnish membership of Nato.”
Germany’s foreign minister Annalena Baerbock has said ahead of her trip to Indonesia that Russia must not be allowed to use the G20 meeting this week as a platform.
“It is in the interest of us all to ensure that international law is respected and adhered to. That is the common denominator,” Reuters reports Baerbock said in a statement. “And it is also the reason why we will not simply stand aside and allow Russia to use the meeting as a platform.”
Russia’s defence ministry has claimed its forces destroyed two advanced US-made HIMARS rocket systems and ammunition depots in eastern Ukraine.
The ministry said Russia’s armed forces destroyed two launchers for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) that America and its allies had been supplying to Ukraine.
It also said Russian forces destroyed two ammunition depots storing rockets for the HIMARS near the frontline in a village south of Kramatorsk in Ukraine’s Donetsk region.
These claims have not been independently verified.
Sri Lanka’s president, Gotabaya Rajapaksa, said he asked his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin to help import fuel to his country as it faces its worst economic crisis in seven decades.
Rajapaksa tweeted that he had a “productive” telephone call with Putin, while thanking him for “all the support extended by his [government] to overcome the challenges of the past”.
Rajapaksa added:
I requested an offer of credit support to import fuel to [Sri Lanka] in defeating the current [economic] challenges.
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Had a very productive telecon with the #Russia President, Vladimir Putin. While thanking him for all the support extended by his gvt to overcome the challenges of the past, I requested an offer of credit support to import fuel to #lka in defeating the current econ challenges.— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) July 6, 2022
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Further, I humbly made A request to restart @Aeroflot_World operations in #lka. We unanimously agreed that strengthening bilateral relations in sectors such as tourism, trade & culture was paramount in reinforcing the friendship our two nations share.— Gotabaya Rajapaksa (@GotabayaR) July 6, 2022
Europe must prepare for complete cut-off of Russian gas, says Ursula von der Leyen
The president of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, said the EU needs to make emergency plans to prepare for a complete cut-off of Russian gas.
The EU chief accused Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin, of using energy as a weapon in an address to lawmakers in Strasbourg today.
The commission is working on a “European emergency plan” with the first proposals to be presented by the middle of the month, she said.
Von der Leyen said:
If worst comes to worst, then we have to be prepared.
She stressed the importance of having a European overview and coordinated approach “to a potential complete cut-off of Russian gas”.
Putin continues to use energy as a weapon.
12 Member States are affected by gas supply reductions.
We need coordination at EU level: @EU_Commission will soon present a 🇪🇺 emergency plan.
We will work to protect our Single Market and industrial supply chains from disruptions. pic.twitter.com/stAz1Z4fOC— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) July 6, 2022
Ukrainian emergency services have released drone footage showing smoke rising above a residential area in the Mykolaiv region.
Russia launched a missile attack on Tuesday, hitting homes and infrastructure, including the highway connecting Kherson and Odesa.
Some more lines from Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Alexei Zaitsev, who said US basketball player Brittney Griner may appeal her sentence or apply for clemency once a verdict has been delivered.
Griner, one of America’s most decorated women’s basketball players, was detained by Russian authorities in February after it said it discovered vape cartridges that contained hashish oil in her luggage at an airport near Moscow.
Zaitsev said in a briefing:
The court must first deliver its verdict, but no one is stopping Brittney Griner from making use of the appeal procedure, and likewise asking for clemency.
He added that “attempts to present the case as though the American woman was illegally detained do not stand up to criticism”.
Griner made a direct appeal to US president Joe Biden for her freedom in a handwritten letter that was delivered to the White House on Monday, according to her representatives.
“I’m terrified I might be here forever,” an excerpt shared by Griner’s representatives with the Guardian said. “I realize you are dealing with so much, but please don’t forget about me and the other American Detainees. Please do all you can to bring us home.”
Latvia to reinstate compulsory military service as Russia tensions rise
Latvia is to reinstate compulsory military service amid growing tension with Russia in the wake of Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The current military system of Latvia has reached its limit. Meanwhile, we have no reason to think that Russia will change its behaviour,” the Latvian defence minister, Artis Pabriks, told reporters on Tuesday.
Latvia had scrapped mandatory service a few years after joining the Nato military alliance. Since 2007, the EU member’s military has consisted of career soldiers along with National Guard volunteers who serve in the infantry part-time at weekends.
The country of under 2 million people, which borders Belarus and Russia, has only 7,500 active-duty soldiers and National Guard members, backed by 1,500 Nato troops.
Russia says Turkey has not seized ship carrying ‘stolen Ukrainian grain’
Russia has denied reports that a Russian-flagged ship is being held and investigated by Turkish authorities in the Black Sea port of Karasu over claims its cargo was stolen from Ukraine.
Turkish customs officials acted after Kyiv claimed the Zhibek Zholy was illegally transporting 7,000 tonnes of grain out of Russian-occupied Berdiansk, a Ukrainian port in the south-east of the country.
Officials in Karasu said the ship was waiting off port while inquiries were undertaken into the provenance of the shipment.
But Russian foreign ministry spokesperson, Alexei Zaitsev, told reporters today that the ship was “undergoing standard procedures”.
On Monday, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, confirmed that the ship was Russian-flagged, while appearing to muddy the waters while claiming the Kremlin was seeking clarity.
Kyiv has accused Russia of stealing grain from occupied Ukrainian territory to sell on the international markets. The country’s grain exports are responsible for almost 15% of the world’s total.
Hello everyone. It’s Léonie Chao-Fong here again to bring you all the latest developments on the war in Ukraine. Feel free to get in touch on Twitter or via email.
Ireland’s Taoiseach Micheál Martin has witnessed the devastation inflicted by Russian forces in the war-scarred suburbs of Borodianka, Bucha and Irpin while on a visit to Ukraine to reiterate his country’s solidarity with Kyiv.
Martin began his visit today with a trip to Borodianka, where he met the town’s mayor and viewed apartment blocks gutted by fire during the Russian shelling.
From there, he visited the site of a mass grave in Bucha on the grounds of the church of St Andrew before travelling to nearby Irpin.
After viewing the war-scarred suburbs of Borodianka, Bucha and Irpin, Martin tweeted that it was “difficult to comprehend the devastation and inhumanity of Russia’s attacks” during its invasion of Ukraine.
It is difficult to comprehend the devastation and inhumanity of Russia’s attacks on Irpin, Borodyanka and Bucha.
Clear how important it is for women and children to get to Ireland to escape trauma and brutality. We stand with Ukraine 🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/aFcfJLn9SM
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) July 6, 2022
Martin is due to discuss how Ireland and the EU can support Ukraine in meetings later today.
He will restate Ireland’s full backing for continuing sanctions against Russia and for Ukraine’s path to full EU membership.
Speaking ahead of his visit to Kyiv, Martin said Ireland would continue to welcome and support civilians fleeing the war in Ukraine.
Martin said:
The people of Ireland stand with Ukraine and its people in the face of Russia’s immoral and unprovoked war of terror.
The bombardment and attacks on civilians are nothing short of war crimes, and I will use my visit to express Ireland’s support for moves to hold those behind these attacks fully accountable.
Alex Lawson
The Norwegian government has stepped in to end a strike that had threatened supplies of gas to Britain.
The labour dispute had shut down oil and gasfields and was expected to cut Norway’s gas supplies by almost 60% by the weekend.
Gassco, Oslo’s state-owned pipeline operator, had even warned that “in a worst-case scenario, deliveries to the UK could stop totally”.
Workers demanded a pay increase to handle rising inflation, which has been triggered in part by a jump in oil and gas prices since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
However, the Norwegian government has the power to intervene to end industrial disputes. The country’s labour minister, Marte Mjøs Persen, said: “When the conflict can have such great social consequences for the whole of Europe, I have no choice but to intervene in the conflict.”
Gas prices had soared in recent days as the strike action threatened to exacerbate the existing supply crunch, but their rally was halted on Wednesday after the announcement.
European nations have been scrambling to fill their gas storage sites before the winter for fear that Russia will cut off supplies altogether.
Britain sources about a third of its gas from Norway and the remainder from a combination of the North Sea, other parts of Europe and imports of liquefied natural gas from the rest of the world, including the US.
Germany is far more reliant on Russian gas and fears are growing over the knock-on effect of Russia reducing gas supplies. The key Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline from Russia into Germany is also scheduled for maintenance from 11-21 July.
Read the full article by Alex Lawson here.
