Putin demands retaliation for sanctions and threatens to limit uranium exports

Russian President Vladimir Putin asked Moscow consider the limitation exports of commodities such as uranium, nickel and titanium in retaliation for Western sanctions, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

“Russia is the leader in strategic reserves of raw materials such as uranium, titanium, nickel,Putin said during a televised meeting with the government. Because Western sanctions limit exports of some Russian goods, such as diamonds, “maybe we should also think about restrictions,“ he said, adding that such limits should not harm Russia

The US and its Western allies have imposed numerous sanctions on Russia’s economy as punishment for the war in Ukraine. However, many vital commodities – including nickel, palladium and uranium – are not subject to any restrictions and continue to flow to Western nations.

Back in June, Sanctions approved by the EU on Russian gas, the first time it has done so. The EU will hit Russia with unprecedented sanctions against its lucrative gas sector – a move that could wipe hundreds of millions from Moscow’s war chest, according to the Belgian EU presidency.

However, the proposed sanctions will not affect most of Russia’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to the EU; instead, the sanctions would prevent EU countries from re-exporting Russian LNG after receiving it and would also ban EU involvement in future LNG projects in Russia. The sanctions will also ban the use of EU ports, finance and services to re-export Russian LNG, essentially meaning that Russia would have to overhaul its LNG export model. Russia currently supplies LNG to Asia via Europe, with Belgium, Spain and France being major hubs.

“If they cannot transship in Europe, they may have to take their ice tanks on longer journeys,” Laura Page, a gas expert at data analytics firm Kpler, told Politico, adding that Russia “they may not be able to get as many cargoes out of Yamal because their ships can’t return as quickly.”

Norway and the US have replaced Russia as Europe’s largest gas supplier: Last year, Norway supplied Europe with 87.8 billion cubic meters of gas, accounting for 30.3% of total imports, while the US supplied 56.2 billion cubic meters, representing 19.4% of the total. .

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

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