Putin accuses Kiev of ‘genocide’ over gas shipments
Vladimir Putin said today that Kiev’s decision to cut gas supplies to eastern Ukraine “smacks of genocide.”
“There are nearly 4.5 million people living in this area. Imagine what will happen to these people, when they’re left without gas during the winter. Never mind that hunger is already rampant, and the OSCE has documented a humanitarian catastrophe. Now they want to turn off the gas!” an outraged Putin said.
Putin also argued that Russian energy giant Gazprom isn’t violating its contract with Kiev by supplying gas through checkpoints in eastern Ukraine. “Gazprom is executing a contract from 2009, with supplemental agreements signed in October 2014,” Putin said, explaining that the eastern Ukrainian checkpoints are specified in the contract.
“This smacks of genocide. Apparently, some decision-makers in Ukraine today have no grasp of humanitarian issues. The very concept, it seems, is forgotten,” said the Russian president.
- In mid-February 2015, separatist authorities in Donetsk and Lugansk announced that Kiev cut off all gas supplies into their regions.
- The Ukrainian state energy firm Naftogaz says it stopped gas deliveries because of major damage to its transportation infrastructure. Mounting a repair effort is currently impossible, moreover, because of continued fighting in the area.
- On February 23, Naftogaz accused Gazprom of breaking its contract with Ukraine. According to Kiev, the Russian energy company supplied only 47 million cubic meters of Ukraine’s last request for 114 million. Naftogaz also said it would make no further payments for Russian gas, “until it receives reasonable assurance” that Gazprom will comply “more strictly” with an October 2014 agreement, which dictates that Ukraine fully prepay for all Russian gas shipments.
- On February 24, Russia threatened to shut off all gas shipments to Ukraine within four days, if Kiev continued to ask for so much without submitting new payments.