The President of Russia, Vladimir Putin has warned of possible ‘catastrophic consequences’ of Western sanctions on the global energy market stressing that the moves by the West will only sink them further.
‘Sanctions restrictions on Russia will bring far bigger losses for the countries that impose the’ Putin told a televised government meeting in an argument he is fond of using.
‘Continuing to use the politics of sanctions can lead to even more serious, without exaggeration — catastrophic — consequences on the world energy market.’
Read Also: ‘Sinking’ Sri Lanka Appeals To Putin For Fuel, Tourists
Africa Daily News, New York reports that Western countries have continued to slam Moscow with a barrage of international sanctions following Putin’s decision to launch his military campaign in Ukraine on February 24.
He had on Friday welcomed that other oil-producing countries have resisted Western demands to increase their oil production to compensate for boycotted Russian oil and prevent a price hike.
‘Europeans are trying to replace Russian energy resources, but the result of such actions is predictable: an increase in gas prices in the market and an increase in the cost of energy resources for end consumers, including households,’ Putin said.
Moscow has in recent weeks slashed its gas deliveries to European states still very dependent on Russian hydrocarbons despite recent efforts to wean themselves off Russian energy.
Meanwhile, according to recent remarks from President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, Sri Lanka has requested fuel from Russia and the resumption of tourist flights to assist the nation to weather its unprecedented economic crisis.
After running out of foreign cash to pay for imports, the island nation has endured months of outages, extreme inflation, and severe food and fuel shortages.
Rajapaksa claimed to have phoned with Vladimir Putin, his Russian counterpart, to request loaned fuel supplies and to ‘humbly’ ask for the resume of flights between Moscow and Colombo.
