Wednesday, January 04, 2006
Russia Wins the First Hand of Poker With Europe
Russia, Ukraine reach natural gas deal
As I mentioned before, Russia decided to play a little game of poker with Europe this week when it cut off gas supplies through Ukraine, reducing the gas supplies in Europe by 25-30%. This was Russia's way of flexing its ever-growing economic muscle and making the Ukranians pay for their insurrection dubbed 'The Orange Revolution.' It now looks as though Russia won this first round. Ukraine quickly folded after Putin showed his hand, thus ushering in the new strategic doctrine of the Russian Government: Global power through natural resources.
Russia succeeded in more than quadrupling the price of gas to Europe. "The Ukrainian natural gas company agreed to a price of $230 per thousand cubic meters of gas, The Associated Press reported, citing the head of Russia's gas monopoly, Gazprom. Ukraine had been paying $50 per thousand cubic meters of gas when Russia demanded more from its Western-leaning neighbor."
Keep an eye out for Russia's next round of poker. I'm very curious as to when the U.S. will sit down at the table and start playing along.
posted by El Capitan at 10:40 AM
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