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Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday assured that India's interests in Russian energy supplies "will not be affected," reiterating Russia's commitment towards India, noting that Moscow will continue its efforts to ensure stable energy supplies for New Delhi despite what he termed "unfair competition".
In an interview with RT India, ahead of his visit to India for the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Lavrov said that Russia continued to honour its agreements with partner countries despite geopolitical tensions, accusing the United States of trying to "seize all energy routes" globally. The Russian Foreign Minister alleged that the US was attempting to dominate global energy corridors and exert pressure on countries maintaining energy ties with Russia. "Their [US] goal is to seize everything, to seize all energy routes that are important. This goal is pretty clear and I'm confident that India understands what is happening," Lavrov said. "I can assure you that India's interests when it comes to Russian supplies will not be affected and we will do our utmost to ensure that this unfair play, unfair competition, could not affect our arrangements," he added. He criticised Western countries, particularly European nations, for reducing dependence on Russian energy supplies, claiming the move was politically motivated rather than driven by market factors. "And it's not a force majeure, an act of God, that the Europeans recall when they strongly refuse to have contracts on energy supplies from Russia. Now they try to ban our gas and oil simply because Russia needs to be punished," he stated. "We do not punish anyone and we treat our commitments in good faith. The commitments that we have in our relations with our partners. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about friendly or non-friendly countries. If we reached an agreement, it's in the Russian tradition to live up to the arrangements", Lavrov added. The Russian Foreign Minister also launched a sharp attack on Western powers, accusing them of abandoning agreements and pursuing economic dominance. "In the West, they have different traditions. They like to cancel history, to cancel arrangements, to come up with some excuses, to once again live at the expense of others, to punish, punish, and punish," Lavrov said. Referring to the ongoing energy situation in Europe, Lavrov claimed that European nations were facing an economic and energy crisis partly due to restrictions on Russian oil and gas imports, further claiming that Europe would increasingly depend on expensive US liquefied natural gas (LNG) supplies following restrictions on Russian energy imports. "They put Europe into a dire crisis. Energy-wise and food-wise, probably Europe will be the one to be affected the most from the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz," he said. "The ban to buy Russian oil and gas means that they will need to switch to the US supplies of LNG, which come at a higher price," Lavrov added. The remarks come amid continuing geopolitical tensions over global energy markets and sanctions on Russian exports following the Ukraine conflict. India has maintained that its energy procurement decisions are guided by national interest and energy security requirements, while continuing to engage with multiple global partners to ensure stable and affordable supplies. (ANI)
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