International Business Times quotes Global Energy Center Nonresident Senior Fellow Ariel Cohen on how a Russian gas deal failure leaves Ukraine facing a huge shortfall going into the winter months:
Russia shut off natural gas supplies to Ukraine on Wednesday after talks in Vienna to extend a deal between the two rival countries broke down over a disagreement on price. While Ukraine can turn to its European neighbors for assistance during the rest of the summer and fall, it has no supplier with enough gas for the harsh winter months, and will likely have to pay a higher rate per cubic feet, which will place added pressure on its already troubled economy.
“Ukraine’s economy is certainly not in a healthy position right now, but it needs to manage its relationship with Russia carefully, bearing in mind that Moscow’s strategy past 2019 is to stop Ukraine becoming closer to Europe and to deny it the financial windfalls of such a relationship,” said Ariel Cohen, director at the Center for Energy at the Institute for Analysis of Global Security and a Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council. “But in some ways this is also good for Ukraine because they need to make relationships with alternative suppliers in Europe if they are to escape the Russian sphere of control.”