RUSSIA USING ENERGY BLACKMAIL AGAIN - TO SQUEEZE EUROPE AND RAISE PRICES

NYTIMES:

Russian gas flows to four European Union countries were below normal levels on Saturday after Moscow cut off supplies to Ukraine in a pricing row, and there were no talks in sight to resolve the dispute.

With temperatures below zero overnight in Europe, Bulgaria's Bulgargaz operator joined energy firms in Poland, Romania and Hungary in saying they had noted falls in supply, though flows to Europe's biggest economy, Germany, were not affected.

The European Union, which gets a fifth of its gas from pipelines that cross Ukraine, said it would call a crisis meeting of envoys in Brussels on Monday and demanded that transit and supply contracts be honored.

But the prospects of a swift settlement to the dispute appeared remote. Moscow alleged Kiev was stealing gas intended for Europe and playing political games, while Ukraine accused Russia of using "energy blackmail."

• RUSSIA IS AN ENEMY OF THE WEST, AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH.
• EUROPE MUST WEAN ITSELF FROM THE MIDDLE EAST AND RUSSIA. ASAP.
• EUROPE IS THE WEAK LINK IN THE WEST: BY DEPENDING ON MIDDLE EAST OIL, AND RUSSIAN GAS, AND BY IMPORTING MUSLIM LABOR, AND NOT REPRODUCING.
• IF EUROPE FAILS TO ACT SOON, THEN BY 2020 THE WHOLE LOT OF THEM WILL BE MORE LIKE ALBANIA THAN LIKE PORTUGAL.
• UPDATE: MORE HERE.