Moscow has threatened to halt all energy supplies to the European Union if it puts a price cap on Russian gas, and has rejected international calls for the creation of a demilitarised “protection zone” at a Russian-occupied nuclear power station in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin also insisted that Russia has “lost nothing” by launching an all-out invasion of Ukraine, and said he was unhappy with implementation of a key deal that lifted his country’s naval blockade on grain shipments from Ukrainian ports.
As the EU called for a limit on the price paid for Russian gas, and G7 states proposed a similar plan for Russian oil, Mr Putin said such “stupid” moves would backfire.
“Will political decisions be made that contradict contracts? If so, we just won’t fulfil them. We will not supply anything at all if it contradicts our interests ... We will not supply gas, oil, coal, heating oil — we will not supply anything,” he added.
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Quoting a line from a Russian fairy tale, Mr Putin said that in such circumstances, “All we will have left to do is say: ‘Freeze wolf’s tail, freeze.’”
A day after the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) listed its “grave” concerns for safety at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant in southeastern Ukraine, Mr Putin claimed it was “obvious” that Kyiv’s forces were shelling the plant but western pressure prevented the agency from “telling it straight”.
He also denied that Russian military vehicles were stationed at the plant, after the IAEA said its inspectors “observed the presence of Russian military personnel, vehicles and equipment at various places” in the facility and called for their removal to ensure they did not “interfere with the operation of safety and security systems and equipment.”
Moscow and Kyiv blame each other’s forces for shelling that has damaged radiation sensors and power lines at Europe’s biggest nuclear power station, which is operated by Ukrainian technicians overseen by Russian troops who seized the area in March.
Recent shelling led to the plant being disconnected from Ukraine’s national grid and to the facility relying on its one operating reactor to power cooling and other vital functions.
In response to the IAEA report, United Nations secretary general Antonio Guterres urged Russia and Ukraine “not to engage in any military activity towards the plant site or from the plant site”, and to agree to the creation of “a demilitarised perimeter ... that would include a commitment by Russian forces to withdraw all military personnel and equipment from that perimeter and a commitment by Ukrainian forces not to move into it.”
Russian envoy to the UN Vassily Nebenzia said the proposal was “not serious”.
“The Ukrainians will immediately step in and ruin the whole thing. We’re defending, we’re protecting the station,” he added.
Mr Nebenzia also complained that a July deal to reopen Ukrainian ports for the export of grain after a three-month Russian blockade was not bringing promised benefits to Russia’s food and fertiliser producers, and might not be extended automatically in November.
Mr Putin claimed the West had “deceived” Russia and developing nations because most of the grain exported under the deal had gone to the EU, not Africa or Asia.
Reports from Kyiv’s military and footage posted on social media in recent days suggest that Ukraine’s army is retaking some territory in Kherson region in the south and Kharkiv province in the east. Mr Putin and his allies insist that his “special military operation” in Ukraine will be a success, however, and that western sanctions will only strengthen Russia. “We haven’t lost anything and won’t lose anything,” he said. “Our main gain is the strengthening of our sovereignty.”
