Vladimir Putin warns Belarus' Alexander Lukashenko over cutting gas supply to EU

Russian President Vladimir Putin has warned the Belarusian counterpart Alexander Lukashenko against the possible closure of the transit of Russian gas to Europe through the territory of his nation. In an interview broadcast on November 13 on Russian state television, as per 20 Minutos report Putin said, “This would do great harm to Europe's energy sector and would not help the development of our relations with Belarus.”

On Thursday, as the crisis at the Belarus-Poland border continued to escalate and thousands of migrants were left stranded, the Belarusian leader had threatened to close the passage of Russian gas through the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline if the EU imposes “unacceptable sanctions” against Minsk. As per the report, Lukashenko assured during a government meeting, “We give heating to Europe and they threaten us to close the border. What if we close the natural gas stopcock?”

However, following his remarks, the Russian President said that his Belarusian counterpart as the president of a transit country can theoretically order the cut off of our supplies to Europe. But Putin stressed that it “would be a violation of the transit contract and I trust that it will not happen.” During the same broadcast interview, Putin recalled that in 2008, Moscow hit a similar crisis but with Ukraine when there was a dispute over prices on transit rates. He added, “Things got to such a point that Ukraine blocked our gas destined for European consumers.”

France, UK & US Blame Lukashenko Govt for migrant crisis

Meanwhile, Western members of the United Nations Security Council have criticised Belarus for escalating the migrant crisis at the border with Poland. As per a report by BBC, in a strong-worded statement, the western nations accused Belarus of using the migrants to destabilise the European Union’s eastern border. Belarus’ main ally, Russia, however, refuted the accusations. The latest allegations by western countries at UNSC came after Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko threatened to cut off gas supplies to Europe if new sanctions were imposed.

While thousands of migrants remain stranded at the Belarus-Poland border seeking refuge in Western Europe, at Thursday’s emergency UNSC meeting, the Western member states reportedly issued a joint statement accusing Belarus of putting the lives of the people in danger “for political purposes.” As per the UK media outlet, they also said that Belarus was attempting to divert “attention away from its own increasing human rights violations.”

(IMAGE: AP)