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Europe’s double-faced

The Indian Foreign Minister had said that European countries are still buying as much oil and gas, In comparison, India’s purchases are very less. Now factual evidence of this has also come to the fore. Ukraine has been Germany’s biggest buyer of Russian energy in the first two months after the war.

Recently, when External Affairs Minister S Jai Shankar was asked about the continuation of India’s crude oil purchases from Russia, he had pointed directly to Europe. What he meant was that compared to the amount of oil and gas European countries are still buying, India’s purchases are very small. Now factual evidence of this has also come to the fore. It is true that Germany was the biggest buyer of Russian energy in the first two months after the Ukraine war. An independent research agency has estimated that Russia sold fossil fuels worth 63 billion euros during this period. On February 24, Russia attacked Ukraine. Based on old data on subsequent ship movements, gas flows in pipelines and monthly trade, the researchers calculated that Germany alone paid Russia around 9.1 billion euros. Much of this payment, made in the first two months of the war, is the price of natural gas. According to the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), Germany spent about 100 billion euros on oil, coal and gas imports last year. A quarter of this went to Russia.

When these figures came out, the German government became uncomfortable. Its spokesperson said they could not comment on the estimates. At the same time, the government also refused to give any of its figures. Germany has come under severe criticism for relying on Russia’s fossil fuels. Many countries are warning that this could threaten the security of Europe and Germany itself. A year ago, when the US was trying to stop the construction of a Russian gas pipeline for Germany, then German Chancellor Angela Merkel opposed it. Russian natural gas currently accounts for 35 per cent of Germany’s total imports. Recently Germany has decided that by 2035 it will prepare itself to get all its electricity from renewable energy only. South Korea, Japan, India and the US have also purchased Russian energy since the start of the war, but far less than in the European Union.

Shubham Bangwal

Shubham Bangwal is a Senior Journalist at Youthistaan.com You can follow him on Twitter @sb_0fficial
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