Putin signed the natural gas "ruble settlement order", and while Europe was helpless to bow its head, the foundation of US hegemony began to waver.
In the past two days, the focus of world public opinion has shifted from Russia's special military operations to one thing, that is, the gas "ruble settlement order" signed by Russian President Putin has been implemented since April 1. This is a nightmare for all European countries, after all, if the EU countries alone are counted, Russia's export gas market share is as high as 40%, and Germany's is 55%. If these European countries refuse to implement the gas settlement order signed by Putin, it means that Europe will usher in the coldest winter in history.
In the face of Russia's tough attitude, the G7 has clearly stated that it will refuse. But the rest of Europe has not followed in their footsteps compared to their determination.
The first to stand out was the Vatican, where, according to media reports, the Vatican Bank exchanged 10 million euros in rubles from the Russian central bank for the import of Russian gas. Finland, another european country, was affected and began to resume rail freight from Finland to St. Petersburg, Russia.
For Germany, which has always been tough, although they claim to continue to import natural gas in euros, in fact, they still exchange euros for rubles in Russian banks to import Russian energy. For Germany, this practice is tantamount to self-deception.
Three things illustrate a problem, that is, there are already countries in Europe that have begun to bow to Russia, with the formal implementation of Russian countermeasures, in the future, whether Europe is willing or not, it will compromise with Russia, because the emergence of the energy crisis, this is a problem that the United States cannot solve, and the only way to turn around is to turn around and then ask Russia for help.
Unsurprisingly, these three countries are just the beginning, and then more and more European countries will start to compromise with Russia, which will create three situations.
In the first case, the economic sanctions imposed by Western countries on Russia are basically useless. At the beginning of Russia's military special operations, the sanctions imposed on Russia by the United States and European countries can be said to be terrible, and the severity of the means and the scope are rare in the world. Because of this, the Russian economy has been very severely suppressed, and the ruble has suffered a cliff-like decline. But at this time, one move made by the United States completely angered Putin, that is, Biden signed an energy ban against Russia. It was at this moment that Russia, in addition to nuclear deterrence, came up with one of its own hole cards, which is an energy countermeasure against Europe. The gas "ruble settlement order" is just the beginning, which directly pulls Russia's ruble exchange rate back almost to the level before Russia was sanctioned.
Next, as more and more European countries compromise with Russia because of energy issues, then it is undoubtedly quite good for Russia's economic pull, so that the economic sanctions imposed by the United States and other Western countries have finally sanctioned a lonely sanction.
The second situation is that the "de-dollarization" is accelerating. Putin signed a gas "ruble settlement order", which includes a statement that European countries can continue to use the euro, but must open a special account at Gazprom that can convert foreign currency into rubles. To put it bluntly, on the surface it is imported in euros, but in fact, it is settled with natural gas in rubles. In this way, the dollar has completely lost its "sense of existence" in the process of trade between Russia and Europe. This is just natural gas, and if it extends to russia's other export areas, it will be a very serious challenge to the hegemony of the dollar. It can be said that the loosening of the dollar hegemony has begun from this time.
The third situation is that the United States has reduced its voice in Europe. In the eyes of the United States, the implementation of the energy embargo on Russia was originally intended to increase Europe's dependence on the United States on the one hand, thereby consolidating the control of the United States over Europe; on the other hand, it wanted to take this opportunity to make a lot of money. But what the United States did not expect was that The withdrawal of Russian energy from the European market would cause such a large chain reaction. While the United States has promised to supply natural gas to Europe, this is less than a fraction of what Europe imports from Russia each year. Obviously, the United States can't eat such a high market share. Eventually, then, Europe will only be able to continue to import gas from Russia. As a result, after Europe has recognized the true intentions of the United States, how much trust in the United States is still in doubt. Coupled with the fact that the EUROPEAN Union has always advocated the idea of a multipolar world, this will be an opportunity. In this way, not only the hegemony of the US dollar has been challenged, but also the hegemony of the United States has been challenged.
Originally, the United States wanted to reap a large number of political and economic benefits, but it did not expect that while its own arms dealers were making a lot of money, the United States became the biggest loser in more important aspects.