Putin says any Belarusian move to cut gas flows threatens to damage relations

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MOSCOW (Reuters) – Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Saturday that Belarus had not consulted with him before raising the possibility of cutting off Russian natural gas flows to Europe, adding that such a move could damage relations between Minsk and its main ally Moscow.

Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Thursday threatened to retaliate against any new EU sanctions against Minsk over the migrant crisis at the Belarus-EU border, suggesting that he could stop the transport of gas and other goods through Belarus. Read more

His warning briefly raised spot gas prices in Europe, which gets about a third of its fuel supplies from Russia, including through the Yamal-Europe pipeline that runs through Belarus to Poland and Germany. Read more

The Belarusian part of the Yamal-Europe pipeline is owned by Gazprom (GAZP.MM), which has a monopoly on Russian gas.

“Recently I spoke to (Lukashenko) twice and he didn’t mention this to me once, he didn’t even hint,” Putin said in a state television interview, in his first public comments about the Belarusian threat.

“Of course, in theory, Lukashenko, as head of the transit state, could order to cut off our (gas) supplies to Europe. But this would mean a violation of our gas transportation contract, and I hope this will not happen,” Putin added.

Russia has been Belarus’ closest ally for years, helping with everything from cash to cheap energy supplies and military aid, but Lukashenko’s comments come at a sensitive time for Russia’s energy exports to Europe.

Analysts say Lukashenko’s gas comments likely tested Putin’s patience with Russian gas supplies, which have already been at the center of the heated debate in Europe. Read more

Russian President Vladimir Putin participates in the launch ceremony of the Amur gas processing plant operated by Gazprom via video link outside Moscow, Russia June 9, 2021. Sputnik/Sergey Ilyin/Kremlin via Reuters

European gas prices – and thus energy bills – are on the rise this year as the recovery from the pandemic has led to a surge in demand, forcing customers from Europe to Asia to struggle for supplies.

Some European politicians have accused Moscow of failing to do more than send contractual quantities of gas, in order to cool prices.

The European Commission said on Friday that if Lukashenko carried out his threats, he would do more harm to gas suppliers.

During Saturday’s interview, Putin said that if Belarus cuts off supplies, it would “significantly damage” the European energy sector “and not help develop our relations with Belarus as a transit country.”

“I will raise this with him (Lukashenko) if this is not something (he said) in the midst of this moment,” Putin said.

Russia, which this week began ramping up supplies to refill its European warehouses ahead of the winter heating season, said more could come once the newly built Nord Stream 2 pipeline gets the green light from Germany.

Nord Stream 2 is another Russian pipeline designed to bypass transit countries, particularly Ukraine, which has a history of confrontations with Moscow over gas pricing.

The Kremlin describes the pipeline as a “purely commercial enterprise” and denies that politics is behind it in any way.

(Reporting by Katya Golubkova and Tom Palmforth) Editing by Helen Popper

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