US estimates of Russia's losses from Ukraine gas transit blockade
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The White House believes that stopping the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine is Moscow's "most expensive defeat". This will deprive Russia of about $6.5 billion in annual revenue.
This was stated by White House adviser John Kirby, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.
What the White House says about stopping Russian gas transit through Ukraine
Kirby said that stopping Russia's gas transit through Ukraine deprives it of about $6.5 billion in annual revenue from gas sales to Europe. According to him, this is one of the biggest and most expensive defeats for Moscow, and the United States welcomes Ukraine's decision.
The White House adviser also reminded that when Russian dictator Vladimir Putin came to power 25 years ago, more than 130 billion cubic meters of gas were transported to Europe through Ukraine, and "today it is zero" and this is a victory.
"The United States, for its part, is making efforts to make Russia suffer losses by imposing sanctions and export restrictions. At the same time, we are trying to increase energy supplies to Europe, particularly liquefied natural gas (LNG)," Kirby added.
What preceded it
On January 1, at 07:00 a.m. Ukraine stopped transporting Russian natural gas through its territory. This decision was made in the interests of national security and was an important step in the fight against energy dependence on Russia.
Energy Minister Herman Halushchenko said that Ukraine was well prepared for this event and that the termination of Russian gas transit would not affect Ukrainians.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy emphasized that this was one of Moscow's biggest defeats.
At the same time, Russia was outraged by this decision and said that the United States, the EU, and Ukraine itself were "responsible for the termination of Russian gas supplies through Ukraine".
