Russia fueled President Joe Biden’s global credibility implosion on Thursday, hiking its gas export price projections for Europe.
For Biden, the timing could hardly be worse. As allies lament the president’s apparently proud ineptitude in Afghanistan, Vladimir Putin has arrived to gut Biden’s foreign policy further.
The Russian state-owned Gazprom energy giant has announced a 30% hike to its 2021 price projection for long-term contracts with European non-former Soviet states. The new estimate is $269.60 per 1,000 cubic meters. It follows a previous increase announced in late June. Further clarifying Putin’s intent to play Biden and German Chancellor Angela Merkel for fools, Gazprom has refused to increase its gas supply substantially through Ukraine. In August, the Russian energy giant booked only 650,000 cubic meters of additional gas per day. Ukraine had offered 23 times that additional capacity.
It’s an utterly predictable blow.
First, Biden betrayed Ukraine and NATO’s eastern flank by gifting Putin his Nord Stream 2 pipeline. Next, Biden and Merkel agreed to a Monty Python-esque deal that ensures Ukraine’s vulnerability to Russian aggression. Now, Putin is laughing as he dangles extortion amid the approaching European winter.
The leader of the free world isn’t looking very credible.
