Look at the news Knows reporter Ren Meixing Lu Ziwen (intern)
2022-02-25 15:34
The day after Russian lightning invaded Ukraine, oil prices soared to $105 a barrel, the first time since 2014 that oil prices broke through 100. Fearing that a sudden war would once again hit the global economy, which had just recovered from the pandemic, stock markets in various countries plummeted and fell into disarray.
As one of the world's largest and most reliable oil and gas producers, Russia's invasion of Ukraine has heightened concerns about natural energy supplies, especially in Europe, which relies heavily on Russia. Nearly 40 percent of Europe's natural gas and 25 percent of its oil come from Russia. As energy prices soar, the consequent rise in heating and gas bills is bound to hit European economies. And to make matters worse, it also adds fuel to inflation around the world.
"The main factor that would have led to inflation recently came from the rise in energy costs. Now, as energy costs continue to rise, production costs rise, which will only lead to worsening inflation. Zhu Xuan, deputy director of the Osgood Center for International Studies, told reporters in the interview.
The United States experienced its highest inflation in 40 years at the beginning of 2022. On Thursday, the Biden administration announced it would take "proactive steps to reduce costs." To counter soaring oil prices, the U.S. government has urged other countries to release more oil from global strategic crude reserves, and as Biden put it, "the U.S. will release more oil reserves when conditions permit."
Since the beginning of Russia's military strike, many countries allied with the United States have immediately imposed sanctions on Russia. To wreak havoc on the Russian economy, the United States sanctioned companies and people who helped build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline, while sanctions against AG and its chief executive, Matthias Warnig, added to the pressure to carry out the Baltic project. The project was originally intended to double the flow of natural gas from Russia to Germany. Zhu Xuan said that although the Nord Stream 2 project will benefit more European countries to a large extent, these European countries have chosen to take sides with the United States under pressure from the United States.
"At present, the supply of Russian gas does not meet the demand of European countries. So do European countries want more gas supplies? The answer is yes. But will they risk sabotaging relations with the United States? I don't think so. And the United States is well aware of this. Zhu Xuan told reporters that on the Russian side, it is almost impossible to cut off supply with Europe, "In fact, if you look at the history of the Crimean crisis, even at that time, the supply was not greatly affected." At that time, Russia did not reduce supply, and Ukraine did not cut off transport routes. ”
So what does the US side think? Zhu Xuan said that completely isolating Russia and cutting off energy supplies would also pose great risks to the United States. "Will the United States ban and disrupt all gas supplies from Russia?" I don't think that's going to happen, although it's also an option... If the U.S. does this, he will push its allies against him. ”
In addition to the critical gas supply issues, the Biden administration and its allies have come together to impose sanctions, including blocking the assets of four of Russia's largest banks, imposing export controls (especially in high-tech areas), sanctioning oligarchs, and excluding Russia from the international settlement system SWIFT.
(Editor: Kim Ri-wei)