Putin calls Lukashenko’s plans to shut down Russian gas pipeline bad decision

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the Belarusian authorities blocking the Russian gas pipeline would be a violation of the contract. According to him, President of Belarus Alexander Lukashenko never spoke or even hinted about such plans. Putin notedthat Lukashenka can indeed cut off transit, but this is a bad decision.

“This would cause great damage to the energy sector of Europe, the energy sector of Europe and would not contribute to the development of our relations with Belarus as a transit country,” Putin said.

Lukashenka announced on November 11 that the Belarusian authorities are ready to cut off the Yamal-Europe gas pipeline. This is how he responded to the statements of Polish officials about the possible closure of the border with Belarus and the EU messages about the expansion of sanctions. The Yamal-Europe section, passing through the Belarusian territory, belongs to Gazprom.

The European Union next week plans to introduce a new package of sanctions against 30 individuals and legal entities of Belarus, including the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Belarusian airline Belavia. In addition, they are discussing sanctions against Turkish and Qatar airlines, the low-cost airline FlyDubai and the Russian Aeroflot.