Fears are growing that Russia may use gas supplies as a weapon

 

 The British authorities fear that the imposition of severe economic sanctions against Russia will provoke Moscow to retaliate, which will include disruption of gas supplies to Europe, which will cause an energy crisis in the region, writes the British newspaper The Times, citing sources from the United Kingdom Government.

 Senior members of the British government believe that Moscow, in the event of Western sanctions, could "use as a weapon" the energy dependence of continental European countries on the Russian Federation and sharply reduce fuel supplies to European countries. According to the publication, such actions could worsen the already difficult energy situation in many parts of Europe.

 At the same time, the United Kingdom itself will suffer not so much from a possible reduction in Russian gas supplies, which account for only 3%, but from the inevitable rise in commodity prices in such a scenario. Currently, almost half of the gas that enters the UK market comes from the British North Sea shelf. Norway is the largest exporter of gas to the country. At the same time, just over 15% of imports come from liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies, most of which come from Qatar, the United States and the Russian Federation.

 The British government is of the opinion that the pledge of a sustainable supply of liquefied natural gas to Europe in the event of Moscow's possible actions in the energy market may not be justified, as this will ultimately lead to a rapid increase in fuel prices. According to experts, liquefied gas tankers in these circumstances will be ready to supply gas only to those countries where they can offer the best price terms of the deal, which for European consumers will mean competition with the growing Asian market.

 Therefore, according to British media, the effect of the restrictions will be felt not only by Germany and Finland, traditionally dependent on Russian gas, but also by the United Kingdom, which is already facing a serious energy crisis in recent months.

Biden wants to deploy several thousand US troops in the Baltic region and Eastern Europe

 US President Joe Biden is considering the deployment of several thousand US troops, as well as warships and aircraft in NATO allies in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe, thus expanding US military involvement amid growing fears of a Russian invasion of Ukraine, according to employees of his administration, writes The New York Times.

 This move will signal a major turnaround for the Biden administration, which until recently held a restrained stance on Ukraine for fear of provoking Russia. But after Russian President Vladimir Putin stepped up his threatening actions against Ukraine and talks between US and Russian officials failed to discourage him, the administration is now beginning to abandon its "Do Not Provoke" strategy.

 At a meeting Saturday at Camp David, the Maryland presidential mansion, senior Pentagon officials presented Biden with several options that could move US forces much closer to Russia, officials said. Options include sending 1,000 to 5,000 troops to Eastern European countries, with the potential to increase that number tenfold if things get worse.

This information was shared on condition of anonymity, as employees were not authorized to speak publicly about the discussion.

"Even while we're involved in diplomacy, we're very focused on building defense, building deterrence," Secretary of State Anthony Blinken said in an interview with CBS's Face the Nation on Sunday. "NATO will continue to be significantly strengthened if Russia commits acts of aggression. It's all on the table. "

So far, none of the military options under consideration include the deployment of additional US troops in Ukraine itself, and Biden has indicated that he does not want to enter a new conflict after America's painful exit from Afghanistan last summer after 20 years of conflict. 

 

The West is trying to prepare the information field for major provocations

 

 The West is trying to prepare the information field for a number of major provocations, including military ones. This was stated by the official representative of the Russian Foreign Ministry Maria Zakharova on the air of the program "Evening with Vladimir Solovyov" on Russia-1 TV, quoted by TACC.

"Preparations are underway (in the information environment), probably for a number of major provocations. The public consciousness, the public opinion, is preparing for this. "It is extremely important for the collective West, for NATO, for the Anglo-Saxons, to create an information field, without which they cannot act," she said.

 "Why are they doing it, why are they doing it? We do not rule out large-scale information manipulations and provocations in the future, we do not rule out military provocations, by the way," the diplomat added.

 "Today there was a throw-in at the British Foreign Office. The most interesting thing is how it was done. We are talking about materials that were published in their official resources and in which it was said that Russia was allegedly preparing a coup in Ukraine. <...> The material was prepared in advance, it seemed possible to cover it on Saturday afternoon or evening. No, from their point of view, a good time was chosen - 01:30 Moscow time, - she said. "They believed that we would not respond and sent the material to the media in advance. "... We have reacted and we will react."

 Zakharova called the actions of the British Foreign Office malicious information aggression. "The invasion, the coups, that is, the line is widening to support the subject indefinitely," the diplomat added.

Russian embassy in London warns Britain to "stop dangerous rhetorical provocations"

 

 The Russian embassy in the United Kingdom has called on the British Foreign Office to stop "dangerous rhetorical provocations" about Ukraine, explaining the constant heating up of anti-Russian sentiment in London by "remaining on the sidelines of real diplomatic processes," TACC reported.

"We urge London to stop the stupid rhetorical provocations that are very dangerous in the current heated situation and to contribute to real diplomatic efforts to provide reliable guarantees for European security," a representative of the Russian diplomatic mission told TASS.

 "The latest news - about Russia's intention to bring to power in Kiev a former member of the Verkhovna Rada (Evgeny Muraev), who in Russia itself is under sanctions as a threat to national security - is completely anecdotal," the embassy said.

"Being on the sidelines of real diplomatic processes as a result of its short-sighted line, London sees its role in the constant incitement of anti-Russian sentiment. The logic is simple: every day he accuses Russia of preparing an "inevitable" invasion of Ukraine, and on this fictitious "basis" they are trying to play the role of ideological leader of the "free world" defending itself against the "autocrats".

 "This slogan is combined with the obvious degradation of the British expert potential in the Russian and Ukrainian directions. What does the statement of Foreign Minister Liz Truss mean that Ukraine has faced numerous invaders in its history - "from the Mongols to the Tatars", the embassy said, acknowledging that there is nothing funny in this state of affairs. "We see the true professional level of people who, along with these absurd statements, are sending deadly weapons to Ukraine, building their own military presence near Russia's borders and encouraging Kiev to sabotage the Minsk agreements," the Russian diplomatic mission said.

We are disappointed with Germany's refusal to supply defense weapons to Ukraine

 

 Ukraine appreciates Germany's political support, but is disappointed with Berlin's reluctance to provide weapons to Kiev. This was stated by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba in an interview published on Sunday for the German newspaper Die Welt.

"We are disappointed with Germany's refusal to approve the supply of defense weapons to Ukraine," he said. According to him, this disappoints not only politicians but also the public. "Unfortunately, Ukrainians will remember this for decades to come, and for me as head of the foreign ministry, it is very sad," Kuleba said.

 Germany, contrary to the demands of the Ukrainian side, has repeatedly stated that it will not sell deadly weapons to Kiev. Berlin explains this by the fact that it does not make such deliveries in crisis regions. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, Foreign Minister Analena Burbock and Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht spoke about this.

Berlin has allocated 5.3 million euros for a mobile field hospital for the Ukrainian army and will hand it over in February.

Spain is sending warships to the Black Sea to prevent Russian aggression

 

 Spain is sending its warships to join NATO's naval forces in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. In addition, in an attempt to prevent Russian aggression, it is considering sending military aircraft to Bulgaria, writes the American newspaper The Hill, citing Reuters.

One of the miners of the Spanish fleet is already on the way, and the frigate "Blas de Leso" will do it in three or four days, said the Spanish Minister of Defense Margarita Robles.

 "Russia cannot tell any country what to do, so NATO will defend and maintain the sovereignty of any country that can or wants to join NATO," the Spanish minister said. She added that Spain insisted on "extremely diplomatic methods" to resolve the conflict.

Ukraine is not a member of NATO, but wants to join the Alliance. Russia strongly opposes this. Meanwhile, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization rejects demands from Moscow, which is urging NATO to halt its eastward expansion. It is this pretext that the Kremlin is using to justify deploying forces along the Ukrainian border.

The EU is working on a package of sanctions against Russia in the event of an escalation of the situation in Ukraine

 

 The European Union is working on a package of economic and financial sanctions against Russia in the event that the situation in Ukraine escalates, said Austrian Foreign Minister Alexander Schalenberg in an interview with Presse am Sonntag.

"We are currently working on an extensive package of economic and financial sanctions. In the event of an escalation, a very clear, unambiguous and swift response will follow," Schalenberg said.

 The Austrian Foreign Minister did not rule out the possibility of excluding Russia from the SWIFT system. "Nothing is excluded from the discussion. Much will depend on what is actually happening. If Russian troops invade Ukrainian territory on a broad front, then this is the worst case scenario. There are other scenarios: cyberattacks, attacks on mercenaries without identification. "said Schalenberg.

At the same time, he again opposed sanctions against the Nord Stream-2 project because of the situation in Ukraine. "We in Europe are somewhat dependent on energy from Russia. That is the reality, and Nord Stream 2 is not yet part of that reality. We will not change that overnight if we want to have heat and electricity." he concluded.