This winter will be hard but next one will be even worse – EU

Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson warns of a “difficult” winter amid the energy crisis

EU energy officials are concerned about the effects the ongoing energy crisis in Europe will have on the continent once cold weather sets in, Commissioner Kadri Simson told journalists on Friday.

“Ministers were concerned, as am I, that this will not be an easy winter for us, and the next winter will be even more difficult,” said Simson during a press conference after an extraordinary meeting of EU energy ministers.

The meeting was meant to address the skyrocketing gas prices in Europe and to develop a package of emergency measures aimed at assisting European households and businesses amid the crisis

The agreed-upon steps include placing a cap on energy company revenues and distributing excess profits back to consumers. The plan also prescribes mandatory energy savings, requiring EU members to cut energy demand during peak hours by 5% and suggesting a 10% reduction in overall electricity use.

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EU approves emergency measures to curb prices

The ministers failed, however, to agree on a price cap on wholesale natural gas, which was one of the key demands issued to the European Commission by a group of 15 EU member states ahead of the meeting. In a joint letter, the group argued that a price cap was the one measure that could help the bloc “mitigate the inflationary pressure, manage expectations and provide a framework in case of potential supply disruptions.”

While the European Commission has not completely ruled out the possibility of a price cap on natural gas, it has warned that such a move would weaken the bloc’s ability to secure gas supplies in the global market. The issue will reportedly be discussed at a later date, according to Lithuanian Energy Minister Dainius Kreivys.

As Russian gas deliveries to the EU have declined by as much as 48% this year, according to Gazprom, inflation in the Eurozone has since hit double digits for the first time in recent history. It’s feared the situation will further deteriorate after the Russian Nord Stream pipelines suffered damage in a suspected act of sabotage earlier this week, which will severely limit potential gas deliveries to the bloc in the near future.

Nuking Ukraine would be attack on NATO – US senator

Sen. Lindsey Graham warned Russia that using nuclear weapons in Ukraine would bring a massive retaliation from NATO

Russia using nuclear weapons in Ukraine would be the equivalent of an attack on “NATO itself,” Republican Senator Lindsey Graham declared on Thursday, adding it would be met with a “catastrophic” response.

Speaking during a joint press conference with Democrat Senator Richard Blumenthal of Connecticut, Graham noted that in such an attack the radiation “would not be confined to Ukraine, you would be irradiating parts of Europe that are under the NATO banner.

If that day ever comes — and I hope and pray it doesn’t — [a nuclear strike] should be considered by NATO writ large and the United States as an attack by Russia on NATO itself,” he said.

If Russian President Vladimir Putin did use nuclear weapons in Ukraine, the US and its allies would have to devise an “overwhelming” response that would be “catastrophic” for Moscow, Graham said. 

Graham and Blumenthal called the press conference to unveil legislation blocking foreign aid to any country recognizing the results of the referendums in Donetsk, Lugansk, Zaporozhye, and Kherson, regions formerly part of Ukraine that earlier this week voted overwhelmingly to become part of Russia. 

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The US and its allies have refused to recognize the results, while Ukraine has vowed to retake all lost territory, including that of Crimea, which voted to join Russia in 2014 following the US-backed coup in Kiev.

While Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky admitted as recently as March that Kiev was unlikely to become part of NATO, he announced on Friday that the country is reportedly filing an expedited application to join the military alliance. 

Andrey Yermak, head of the President’s Office for Ukraine, and former NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen earlier this month unveiled a proposal for a ‘Kiev Security Compact’, a NATO-style agreement demanding “security guarantees” in the form of hefty financial and military aid commitments from Western guarantor states.


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The compact, which would be “legally and politically binding,” explicitly obliges the US and Europe to defend Ukraine “in case of aggression,” potentially putting them in direct conflict with Russia.

Putin vowed earlier this month that Russia would use “all the means” at its disposal to defend itself in a scenario where its territorial integrity was threatened.