Ukraine’s President Zelensky Warns Europe to Brace for Bleak Winter as Russia Cuts Oil and Gas Exports to Ukrainian Allies

 

 

The reality of soaring energy prices combined with shortages of gas and oil is sinking in with the European public and they are not happy. 

You cannot say they have not been warned. Hell, even Ukraine’s President Zelensky is sounding off:

Ukraine’s Zelenskiy warns Europeans to brace for bleak winter. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has told Europeans to expect a difficult winter as the Russian assault on his country leads to cuts in oil and gas exports by Moscow. https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ukraine-nuclear-plant-loses-power-line-moscow-makes-europe-sweat-over-gas-2022-09-04/

So let us take a quick tour around Europe to see what economic news is making headlines. First up, our British cousins. The following graph published in one of the tabloids provides the stark figures that the sanctions that were supposed to cripple Russia are clobbering the stiff-upper-lip crowd:

“Welcome to sanctions-hit Russia, where prices are falling while Britons are suffering from a sharp rise in inflation”: Sun compared prices in the UK and Russia and came to a sad conclusion. https://t.me/azmilitary11/18615

Opposition politicians in Germany smell the blood in the water and are making sure that German voters know who to blame when they are shivering over a cold plate of uncooked schnitzel and Spätzle.

German Christian Democratic Union(The CDU is the second largest party in the Bundestag) Head Friedrich Merz warns of the possibility of a total blackout in Germany this winter if country does not extend the operation of 3 remaining nuclear power plants https://t.me/azmilitary11/18628

Similar posturing in Italy:

Salvini Former Deputy PM of Italy: sanctions against Russia have failed. https://t.me/azmilitary11/18713

“Several months have passed and people are paying two, three, even four times more for their bills-and after seven months, the war continues and the Russian Federation’s coffers are filling with money.”

French labor unions are doing what they do best–they are going to strike:

Workers across Europe have been reeling under an acute cost of living crisis marked by skyrocketing fuel and food prices. The workers of the transport sector, already severely affected by the COVID-19 crisis, are now finding it hard to make ends meet due to rising inflation. Transport companies and their subcontractors, which are operating the public transport in several cities, have over time reduced their services, terminated staff, used temporary workers and scrapped permanent contracts, denied workers rights, and slashed wages and bonus and overtime benefits. Even in places where companies offered a pay rise, the hike has been nominal and insufficient compared to the rising rates of inflation. According to L’Humanite, transport workers in Pau will go on strike on September 1, while workers in Lille will start their strike on September 3. Workers and unions in Nantes have also issued protest alerts and are gearing up for a massive mobilization by workers of Semitan, the company in charge of the public transport network in the city. The Keolis group, which operates public transport networks in several French cities including Bordeaux, Dijon, Lille, Lyon, Orléans, and Rennes, has also been criticized for reducing services and not addressing the workers’ demand for a pay rise.

Looks like French President Macron is in for a turbulent fall if prices continue to soar and fuel shortages become widespread.

The folks in the Czech Republic are not happy either. While 70,000 cranky voters is not a tidal wave of unrest, it is a harbinger of things to come. Not surprisingly, the Czech Government accused these protestors of being Putin supporters. I am pretty sure that will not play well when Czechs with chattering teeth are trying to warm themselves while the Russian people will be toasty, slurping warm borscht and imbibing vodka toasts while Europe collapses.

More than 70,000 Czechs are rallying in Prague demanding the resignation of the government, cheap Russian gas and neutrality. https://t.me/intelslava/36372

There is still a chance that European leaders may come to their senses and try to repair relations with Russia and get oil and gas flowing again. Don’t bet on it. The majority of clowns in leadership positions in Europe have shown a remarkable ability to always do the wrong thing.