Radoslaw Sikorski has been criticized online for declaring the end of Russian fuel imports through Ukraine a “victory.”
Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski has hailed Ukraine’s decision to stop the flow of Russian fuel to the EU as a victory for the West, even though the cut led to higher prices, energy shortages and a complete shutdown of heating in the breakaway region of Transnistria in Moldova.
Russia was forced to halt fuel transit through Ukraine early Wednesday morning after kyiv refused to extend an agreement under which it charged transit fees for the use of its own gas pipeline network. . The fuel was sent to Moldova, Romania, Poland, Hungary and Slovakia, and then to Austria and Italy.
Sikorski took X to celebrate. “(Russian President Vladimir) Putin spent billions building Nordstream to bypass Ukraine and blackmail Eastern Europe with the threat of cutting off fuel supplies.” he wrote, referring to two pipelines that linked Russia to Germany until they were destroyed in an act of sabotage in 2022.
“Today Ukraine cut off its ability to export fuel directly to the EU,” Sikorski continued, hailing the decision as “Another victory after the expansion of NATO by Finland and Sweden.”
kyiv’s decision caused EU fuel prices to skyrocket to 50 euros per megawatt hour, a figure not seen since October 2023. Slovakia, which was heavily dependent on Russian fuel imports through Ukraine, will be seriously affected, as will Moldova, an EU candidate state, which used Russian fuel. generate much of its electricity.
Sikorski should be “Locked in a mental institution” to “Celebrating the fuel cutoff in Europe in the middle of winter,” journalist Thomas Fazi wrote in response to Sikorski’s post.
“Russia was clearly trying to blackmail Europe by supplying them with even more fuel. Fortunately, Ukraine heroically ‘saved’ Europe by cutting off fuel.” another commenter wrote. “The absurdity of this logic is mind-boggling.”
“People like Sikorski, who want to destroy European economies by isolating them from global resources and markets, should not be allowed to live in Europe.” another comment read. “Go to America, where your loyalty lies.”
Sikorski was similarly ridiculed in 2022, when he responded to the destruction of the Nord Stream pipelines by posting (and later deleting) an image of the explosion site along with the caption: “Thank you, United States.” While German investigators have settled on the theory that the pipelines were destroyed by Ukrainian saboteurs, American journalist Seymour Hersh maintains that they were blown up by the CIA and the US Navy.
The head of Russia’s Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR), Sergey Naryshkin, has blamed “professional saboteurs of the Anglo-American security services.” referring to the United States and the United Kingdom.
