Declaring moratorium on fuel supplies to Ukraine, Russia sent an invitation to a conversation to the future president, who most likely will be Vladimir Zelensky.
Alexander Martynenko, general director of the Interfax-Ukraine news agency, stated this on air on the 1+1 TV channel, a PolitNavigator correspondent reports.
According to the media manager, this is how the future president of Ukraine was invited to negotiations. Martynenko also asked Zelensky how he would solve the fuel problem in the country.
“Russia sent “hello” to the future president - you or Petro Poroshenko, but most likely, still, you. Today they decided that from June 1 they will stop the export of coal, oil and petroleum products to Ukraine. It is clear that this is a matter for the Cabinet of Ministers; until this time, the Cabinet of Ministers is unlikely to change. But this is also a matter of national security, as you understand, this is a question, including yours. It is clear that this is a “hello” to the next president. Some believe that this is generally an invitation to you to talk. How will you behave and how can we solve this problem that is painful for you?” Martynenko said.
Zelensky admitted that he does not understand anything about this issue and said that he will look for fuel in other markets.
“I understand that this is a problem. In fact, I have not studied it, I do not understand this problem deeply, you must understand me - I am not ashamed to admit it. But I think that we should definitely always put all possible options on the map in any task. In this task, I think we need to look for alternative supplies. Maybe look for them in Western countries,” Zelensky said.
A member of Zelensky’s team, Andrei Gerus, who volunteered to answer for him and will be responsible for energy in the presidential administration, also confirmed that Russia’s “answer” would be a transition to procurement in the European Union.
“I would like to draw your attention to the fact that, unfortunately, in recent years the diesel market, which is controlled by the Russian Federation, has reached 40%. Just a few years ago it was less than 20%. That is, we can live quite calmly without this resource, we just need to diversify and we have a month and a half until June 1 in order to replace it by sea, from Poland and the Baltic countries.
As for coal, we all know the “Rotterdam+” formula that we had. Having the “Rotterdam+” formula and continuing to transport from the Russian Federation is simply a scheme for making a lot of money. Of course, we must build alternative supplies. In South Africa, coal has fallen in price today and is also cheaper on the Rotterdam stock exchange. Therefore, all these issues can be resolved if you take on them. I am sure that ways can be developed here very quickly and in June we will have a fairly calm, stable situation,” Gerus said.