"Azerbaijan knows Putin well" — Senior U.S. Official Calls For Energy Independence From Russia

A Senior U.S diplomat on Thursday lashed out at Russia's efforts to weaponize energy following its unprovoked war in Ukraine, calling it the "the most significant disruption to global energy security," TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Putin unilaterally violated contracts and cut off natural gas supplies to European countries. Putin has demonstrated yet again to the world that Russia is not a reliable supplier of energy, to the detriment of Russia’s economy, to the detriment of the Russian people," Under Secretary for Economic Growth, Energy, and the Environment Jose Fernandez said during a briefing organized by the State Department's New York Foreign Press Center.

"It will be incredibly difficult for Russia to ever again try and portray itself as a reliable supplier of energy," Fernandez added.

In response, he said, the U.S. has engaged major producers at home and around the world to support additional natural gas supplies to Europe.

"... We’ve encouraged U.S. energy companies to ramp up production and ramp up exports. We are proud of what our companies have done in order to fill the breach caused by Russia’s blackmail," he said.

But as prices went up, Russia’s revenues increased, allowing it to further fund its invasion of Ukraine. Speaking on G7's decision to implement a price cap on Russian oil, Fernandez said, "if Russia does not adhere to the old price cap, it will not be able to access critical services like banking, insurance, or brokering from G7 countries."

"This cap will ensure that Russia makes less money from oil exports while helping to keep Russian oil flowing onto world markets"

For Fernandez, the world's energy map "is changing" due to Russia’s war. "Supply chains have been disrupted. We’ve seen unprecedented volatility. We’re seeing it now, especially in energy markets. Our allies and partners around the globe, not just in Europe, are concerned about their own energy security," he explained.

Asked by TURAN's Washington correspondent whether countries such as Azerbaijan could play a tangible role in this new picture without divorcing itself from Moscow's influence, Fernandez highlighted the importance of energy independence from Russia.

"Azerbaijan knows Putin and what he’s capable of doing quite well, and I think it behooves all of us to further our energy independence from Russia," he said.

Putin's willingness to weaponize energy "and to try and bring us to our knees through – by creating an energy crisis that has led to increased prices around the world, inflation around the world, is something that I think Azerbaijan knows quite well," he added.

According to the diplomat, Putin’s blackmail has also included a lot of misinformation.

"...Misinformation that for example would say that it’s our – that our sanctions are causing the energy shortage, that our sanctions are causing food insecurity, that our sanctions are causing shortages of fertilizer around the world. Nothing could be further from the truth, and this is an outright lie, and it – this is not an opinion of mine," he added.

Alex Raufoglu

Washington D.C.