US officials have, for the time being, been holding conversations with Qatar over supplying European countries with liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the case an eventual Russian invasion of Ukraine leads to shortages on the continent, according to news reports.
Sources close to the matter told Bloomberg that President Joe Biden planned to ask the Emir of Qatar, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, to visit the White House, possibly as soon as later this month. The reports added that the meeting between Biden and Sheikh Tamim had been in the pipeline for some time.
In earlier reports of the issue, the US has ardently been concerned about Russia’s preparation for the possibility of a new military assault on Ukraine, a country it partially invaded in 2014. Meanwhile, Russia has come out to deny such claims of an attack on Ukraine.
Russia is one of the major suppliers of LNG to Europe, as it supplies about one-third of its natural gas supplies to Europe, and US sanctions over any conflict could disrupt that supply.
Therefore, any interruptions to Russia’s gas supply to Europe would exacerbate an energy crisis caused by a shortage of the fuel.
The State Department’s discussions with energy companies were led by senior adviser for energy security Amos Hochstein, a senior US State Department official told the Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.
“The United States promised to have Europe’s back if there is an energy shortage due to conflict or sanctions,” another source told Reuters.
“Amos is going to big LNG producing companies and countries like Qatar to see if they can help the United States,” he added, referring to Hochstein.
Russian Military Troops Marching to the Border
Russia has become a black sheep in the eyes of the West, as it has alarmed the West by massing troops near Ukraine in the past two months, following its seizure of Ukraine’s Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and its backing of separatists fighting Kyiv troops in eastern Ukraine.
On Wednesday, January 19, 2021, President Joseph Biden told reporters at the White House:
“Russia will be held accountable if it invades – and it depends on what it does … It is going to be a disaster for Russia if they further invade Ukraine.”
Joe Biden, US President
In a response by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Thursday, he noted that the comments by Biden “in no way contribute to defusing the tension that has now arisen in Europe”.
“Moreover, [they] can contribute to the destabilization of the situation,” he told reporters on a conference call.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met in Geneva on Friday at what the former dubbed a “critical moment” in the crisis.
The top diplomats said they were however, open to further dialogue after the talks yielded no sign of breakthrough.
The EU member states acquire about 40 percent of their natural gas supply from Russia, and most of it passes through Ukraine.
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