Russian President Vladimir Putin has ordered the Russian central bank, the government, and Gazprom to present proposals by March 31 for gas payments in rubles from "unfriendly countries," including all European Union states. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a conference call, referring to European customers:

"We are not going to supply gas for free, this is clear. In our situation, it is hardly possible and appropriate to engage in charity."

But the Group of Seven major economies has agreed to reject the demand, the German energy minister said on March 28. Robert Habeck told reporters that

"all G7 ministers agreed completely that this (would be) a one-sided and clear breach of the existing contracts. Payment in ruble is not acceptable and we will urge the companies affected not to follow Putin's demand."

Putin said on March 23 that Russia will implement the changes and stop accepting payments in currencies that have been "compromised" within one week.

Carlos Diaz, a gas and power analyst at Oslo-based Rystad Energy, told RFE/RL that Russia's existing long-term gas-export contracts with European countries stipulate payment in dollars and euros. In order to be paid in rubles, Russia would have to renegotiate those contracts, opening the door for European countries to drastically cut the amount of gas they are required to buy from Kremlin-controlled Gazprom each year as well as the length of the contract.

If Russia tries to force the situation, European countries can take Russia to arbitration court, a process that can last months or years.

Germany, Italy, Poland all say no to ruble payment.

The European Commission has confirmed that it expects the EU to remain dependent on energy imports from Russia for at least another five years. European Commission Spokesperson for Climate Action and Energy Tim McPhie said the bloc would "be dependent on carbon fuels from Russia until 2027." McPhie said the EU had estimated it could reduce its dependence on Russian gas by two-thirds this year and that a detailed plan about how it would achieve this would be presented by the end of May.

Biden had met with Brussels officials to try to push for an embargo on Russian oil too, which Europe had refrained from imposing, citing recession fears.

The bloc said it had sought to ensure stable demand for additional US LNG of approximately 50 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year until at least 2030, "on the understanding that the price formula of LNG supplies to the EU should reflect long-term market fundamentals."

The world's energy markets need Russian oil and no producer can replace it, United Arab Emirates (UAE) Minister of Energy Suhail al-Mazrouei said on Monday.

Russia produces some 10 million barrels of oil a day, which makes it a critical member of the OPEC+ energy alliance, al-Mazrouei explained during an energy forum in Dubai.

"Leaving the politics aside, that volume is needed today," he insisted, adding that "unless someone is willing to come and deliver that amount, we don't see that someone can substitute Russia."

The United States, Europe, and others have been calling on Gulf Arab oil producers to ramp up production and help bring down crude prices, which at one point shot above $120 a barrel.

The EU stepped back from imposing an embargo on Russian crude and petroleum products, despite pressure from the US. An immediate embargo on Russia's fossil fuels "from one day to the next would mean plunging our country and the whole of Europe into a recession."

Qatar - which holds the third-largest natural gas reserves in the world - said last week that it was practically impossible to replace Russian gas on the European market.

© Bündnis 90/Die GrünenFILE PHOTO: German Vice Chancellor and Economy Minister Robert Habeck

"All G7 ministers agreed completely that this [would be] a one-sided and clear breach of the existing contracts," German Energy Minister Robert Habeck told journalists on Monday.

The minister added that "payment in rubles is not acceptable" and that the nations will urge the companies affected "not to follow" the demand issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin last week.

On Monday, Putin ordered the government, the central bank, and Gazprombank to develop the necessary tools to switch all payments for Russian natural gas from "unfriendly states" to rubles from March 31.

This includes countries that have targeted Russia's financial system and seized its foreign reserves in response to the crisis in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia will stop shipping natural gas to countries that reject the demand.

Hillier was permanently suspended from Twitter on Mar. 8 for his tweets about vaccine mandates and other public health measures. He had also previously made a racist comment about Transport Minister Omar Alghabra by calling him a "terrorist."

A week before his suspension on Twitter, Hillier announced he would not be seeking re-election, ending a 15-year run in provincial politics.

"Our political system is broken. There is no sense spending any more time trying to fix a broken system from within when the problem lies without," Hillier said in the video.

Hillier uploaded a video before he surrendered himself to police.

"Today going into the Ottawa police, I've been asked to surrender, face charges for expressing myself at the Freedom Convoy and I've been deemed that I have to prove that I'm not a danger to society to have my freedom," Hillier said.

In an emailed statement, Hillier said that he plans to defend himself against the charges and that "questioning and challenging public policy is the role and responsibility of any elected representative."

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Second, Greenland's current politics need to be carefully considered when evaluating the possibilities for future Chinese investments. After the April 2021 Greenlandic elections, Inuit Ataqatigiit formed a coalition with Naleraq, ousting the social democratic Siumut party.

[...]

IA has favored a more cautious approach on both airports and mining, and during the election campaign the party mainly focused on the ambition of banning the rare earth element and uranium mining project at Kuannersuit close to the city of Narsaq. This project was overseen by an Australian firm, in cooperation with China's Shenghe Resources, but it is now in abeyance. As well, the decision by the IA-led government to halt oil and gas surveys in Greenland has meant that the possibility of Chinese fossil fuel investment there has also faded. The only major extraction project left in Greenland involving a Chinese partner is the planned zinc mine at Citronen Fjord, but its timetable remains undecided, and even that project seems to pivoting toward the renewed American investment interest in Greenland. China's economic footprint in Greenland has shrunk considerably just over the past two years, which has reduced the possibility of Beijing assuming a greater say over Greenland's economic affairs in the near term.

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US LNG exports are maxed out

Global LNG demand was already surging prior to the Ukraine conflict as countries everywhere seek to lower than reliance on coal.

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US exporters have been racing to bring more shipping terminals online for the last few years, and in December 2021 finally surpassed Qatar and Australia as the world's top LNG exporter.

In February, US LNG exports hit a record of 13.3 billion cubic feet per day, the first time that all seven US terminals were fully docked by tankers at once. Once the most recently completed new terminal, Calcasieu Pass in Louisiana, is fully operational by the end of this year, total US export capacity will be 13.9 bcf/d.

It takes years to build new LNG export infrastructure, so it's not clear how the US can meet its near-term promise to Europe other than talking Asian customers like China and Japan into reselling some of their American LNG to Europe.

So US LNG cannot yet replace Russian gas for Europe. Whilst over in Asia, customers will opt for the most affordable and reliable source, and with new Russian pipelines to Asia in the works, and the West's criminality clear for all to see, it's unlikely that the US will be their preferred supplier: Pepe Escobar: Exit Nord Stream 2, enter Power of Siberia 2

Longer-term, European buyers are already signing advance contracts for US LNG that won't be delivered until 2025 or later. Europe will also need to expand its import terminal infrastructure.

The West has become notorious for projects overrunning, being massively over budget, and sometimes even failing to ever be completed, and so the signing of these contracts is, for now, merely performative.

No matter what happens in the coming weeks in the Ukraine conflict, Europe is preparing to make its shift away from Russian gas permanent.

Turkish presidential spokesman Ibrahim Kalin warned against isolating Moscow, stating that Russia "must be heard one way or another." The official made the remarks on Sunday, during the opening session of the Doha Forum.

"If everybody burns bridges with Russia, then who's going to talk to them, at the end of the day?" Kalin asked.

At the same time, he urged international leaders to support Ukraine "by every means possible" so it can "defend" itself against the ongoing Russian offensive launched in late February. The Russian position must nonetheless be taken into consideration, he stressed.

"The Russian case must be heard, one way or the other," Kalin stated.

NATO member Turkey has been striving to take a neutral stance in the ongoing conflict, and is purportedly seeking to act as a mediator between Moscow and Kiev. Unlike other members of the US-led bloc, Ankara has refused to impose economic sanctions against Russia and has kept open its diplomatic channels with both sides.