Another nuclear plant closed down in Michigan as America’s energy grid gets systematically dismantled Thursday, June 02, 2022 by: Ethan Huff

(Natural News) On the very same day that the North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC) issued a report stating that the United States electric grid is lacking in capacity, regulators shut down the Palisades Power Plant in Michigan.

Despite warnings that America’s electrical grid is collapsing, which will likely result in rolling blackouts this summer, the 811-megawatt nuclear facility is no longer operational. (Related: Germany is also phasing out all of its nuclear plants in order to go “green.”)

The Midwest is especially at risk, according to NERC. There is a “high risk of energy emergencies during peak summer conditions,” the group warned as the key Midwestern energy generator was shuttered for good.

“Palisades was located in the heart of the Midwest, immediately adjacent to the area served by the Mid-continent Independent System Operator (MISO), the region that NERC identified as being particularly short on juice,” writes Robert Bryce, host of the Power Hungry Podcast and executive producer of the documentary “Juice: How Electricity Explains the World.”

“NERC said the MISO region has 3,200 megawatts less generation capacity this summer than it did in 2021. Despite this loss of generation capacity, NERC expects demand in the region to increase by about 1.7 percent this summer and warned that ‘extreme temperatures, higher generation outages, or low wind conditions’ will mean that MISO will have a ‘higher risk’ of ‘load-shedding to maintain system reliability’ – the industry’s preferred term for rolling blackouts.”

Gretchen Whitmer tried to prevent Palisades from closing

Meredith Angwin, author of the 2020 book “Shorting the Grid,” told Bryce that she is shocked at how many people are pretending as though the energy crisis in this country is not a problem. The Midwest is headed towards energy ruin very soon and Palisades is now no longer operational.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Angwin said.

The truly amazing thing is that Palisades qualified as a “green” energy plant because it produces zero carbon. There was no reason, even using the climate change narrative, to shut it down, in other words.

According to Tim Cavanaugh from the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Palisades was producing about 7 terawatt-hours of energy every year. This is more than the amount of energy generated by all of the wind turbines currently operating across the state of Michigan.

“It’s a key comparison because the backlash against the wind industry has been fierce in Michigan,” Bryce notes. “Among the latest examples, last month the town board in Fulton Township voted unanimously to reject a project proposed by Chicago-based Invenergy that would put several dozen wind turbines in and around the township.”

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, along with Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, had attempted to prevent the closure of Palisades. On April 20, Whitmer stated publicly that “keeping Palisades open is a top priority,” promising to tap some of the $6 billion available at the Department of Energy’s Civil Nuclear Credit Program to make that happen.

Stopping the closure of Palisades, Whitmer wrote in a letter to the DoE, will “allow us to shore up Michigan’s energy supply to prevent price spikes on working families and small businesses.” Unfortunately, these efforts were a failure.

Palisades was originally scheduled to close on May 31 but ended up closing 11 days early because of a “mechanical problem.” Since that time, Whitmer has been silent on the issue, as has the Biden regime, which supposedly supported the bipartisan infrastructure bill that was supposed to help plants like Palisades remain open.

“There’s no doubt that the plant’s closure will result in more greenhouse gas emissions,” Bryce says. “When nuclear plants close in the United States, they are replaced by gas-fired generation.”

More related news stories can be found at EnergySupply.news.

Sources for this article include:

ZeroHedge.com

NaturalNews.com

https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-06-02-nuclear-plant-closes-michigan-energy-grid-dismantled.html

Horrified patient says doctors left a breathing tube in his body for 30 years Wednesday, June 01, 2022 by: Cassie B.

(Natural News) Medical malpractice is so common these days that individual cases aren’t usually considered newsworthy, but one case has been making headlines recently because it took doctors an incredible 30 years to discover the mistake.

It involves 39-year-old Rene Remache of Queens, New York, who recently discovered a 10-inch breathing tube had been left in his body from an operation that took place some three decades ago.

It all started when Remache fell out of a second story window in 1989 at the age of 6 when he was living with his grandparents. The young boy was admitted to Elmhurst hospital with a skull fracture, where they placed him on a ventilator and a breathing tube. According to his medical records, he was “agitated” by the tubes and pulled at them; the records also say that he self-extubated.

According to Remache, that occasion was the only time in his life when he was given this type of tube. His lawyers believe that he swallowed some or all of the tube while he was at the hospital there without his doctors realizing it.

Remache says that he has experienced ongoing stomach problems throughout the years, for which he occasionally received treatment at Elmhurst and other hospitals. On his many trips to the emergency room due to stomach pain and vomiting, Remache, who uses Medicaid, was never given any type of test that would have discovered the tube. Frustrated, he decided to stop going to the doctors altogether when his stomach acted up since no one could tell him what the problem was.

However, on a family trip to Mexico in 2019, he started feeling even worse, with a bizarre sensation in his chest and throat that he had never felt before. He said that he had the feeling like something was stuck in there and impacting his breathing, but a Mexican clinic he visited diagnosed him with bronchitis and prescribed him antibiotics.

Upon returning to New York, he visited Mount Sinai Medical Center, where a CAT scan finally revealed the problem: a tube was sitting inside the curvature of his stomach. Surgeons removed the tube, and Remache had to sue the hospital to give him the tube to use as evidence in a malpractice lawsuit he is filing against Elmhurst Hospital.

For its part, New York City Health and Hospitals, who owns Elmhurst, insist that the tube is different from the type that would have been used to intubate him as a child. They have repeatedly refused to settle his case, and a trial is set for October.

Retained surgical items are not uncommon

According to the American Society of Anesthesiologists, roughly a dozen sponges and other types of surgical instruments are left inside of patients’ bodies each day in the United States, amounting to between 4,500 and 6,000 cases per year. It is difficult to know exactly how often this happens because there is no federal reporting requirement for retained surgical items.

However, a 2003 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that around 70 percent of items left in patients bodies after operations are sponges. The remaining 30 percent are surgical instruments such like retractors and clamps. Many times, these objects cause localized pain, bloating and discomfort; they may even lead to sepsis and death in some cases.

Dr. Atul Gawande, a surgeon at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, told CNN that a major operation can use 50 or 100 sponges. He likened counting them to counting a deck of cards to see if there are 52; miscounting is not uncommon.

Leaving items in people’s bodies is such a big problem that some hospitals are using special surgical sponges and tools with bar codes on them. Others are resorting to performing an X-ray while the patient is still on the table if there is any doubt about the item count before stitching them back up.

Sources for this article include:

Edition.CNN.com

NYPost.com

https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-06-01-patient-doctors-left-breathing-tube-years.html

Russian MP: Russia can destroy America with four Satan 2 missiles 06/02/2022 / By Kevin Hughes

Four intercontinental ballistic missiles are all Russia needs to destroy the entire United States.

A politician hosting a Russian state TV show on Monday, May 30, issued a warning that Russian President Vladimir Putin could “destroy the entire East coast of the U.S.” with just two missiles. (Related: FLASHBACK: Russia has “Satan 2” nuclear missiles that can wipe out an entire area the size of Texas.)

Alexei Zhuravlev, a member of Russia’s parliament, bragged about the country’s military power in the footage from the Kremlin’s prime propaganda show. The legislator alleged that two of Russia’s Sarmat missiles could wipe out the whole East coast of America before adding it would also take just “two missiles for the West coast” to be destroyed, as well.

“Four missiles and there’ll be nothing left. They think the mushroom cloud will be taller than a high rise. That mushroom cloud will be visible from Mexico,” Zhuravlev said.

The 208-ton RS-28 Sarmat missile, also called Satan 2, is capable of hitting targets at almost 16,000 mph and it stands at the enormous height of a 14-storey tower block.

The doomsday long range nuclear missile can also carry 15 warheads and has the capability to eradicate an area the size of the United Kingdom in one blast.

Putin-allies have claimed that the Russian military has as many as 50 Sarmat missiles in its stockpile. Every single one of the Sarmat missile’s 15 nuclear warheads are over 100 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima in World War II.

Putin previously said that his Satan 2 missiles “can break through all modern anti-missile defenses.”

While these types of threats have become quite normal on Russian propaganda shows since the Ukraine invasion, the risk of mutually assured destruction diminishes much of the danger.

In addition to threatening the U.S. with Russia’s nuclear power, the show also examined the crisis in Ukraine with the host reiterating the denazification theme of Russia’s invasion.

Depicting them as “incurable,” Zhuravlev said that two million Ukrainians should “be denazified which means to be destroyed.” Ukraine has a population of over 40 million.

He mentioned a study that found 40 percent of Ukrainians do not support tearing down Soviet era statues in the country, which is being conducted in several regions. Zhuravlev said the 36 percent with “no opinion” on the issue were too afraid to talk, making the case that “over three quarters of Ukrainians are against tearing down monuments.”

“If we re-install their brains correctly, 12-15 percent will also believe it shouldn’t be done. So the maximum of five percent are incurable,” the Russian legislator said.

Sarmat missile can reduce the US into nuclear ashes

In a separate interview, the 59-year-old Zhuravlev said that the Sarmat would reduce the U.S. into “nuclear ashes” if they “think that Russia should not exist.”

His comments repeated those of Dmitry Rogozin, an ardent friend of Putin, who alleged the missiles could destroy large parts of America before turning his sight on the U.K. and warning the Sarmat could hit British targets in minutes.

Rogozin, the head of Russia’s space agency Roscosmos, recently told schoolchildren that Russia’s hypersonic missile could destroy “half the coast of a continent.”

Wearing his space agency uniform, Rogozin showed the schoolchildren a list of Russia’s strategic rockets at a “federal education marathon” called New Horizons. This culminated with Rogozin showing the schoolchildren the Sarmat intercontinental ballistic missile.

Putin has stated that Russia’s new “big beast” hypersonic weapon would be “unstoppable … for a long time to come” and it is set to be deployed this year.

And not long ago TV anchor Dmitry Kiselyov declared before his Russian TV audience that the U.K. should be deluged twice with Putin’s most sophisticated nuclear arsenals.

Kiselyov suggested the use of Satan 2 to obliterate England from the map and that Russia should “plunge Britain into the depths of the sea” with its “underwater robotic drone Poseidon” causing a 1,640-foot tsunami. Former Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also warned of a possible nuclear war. It comes as Russia asked its people not to travel to Britain and swore to block Britons attempting to enter its nation.

Moscow has accused Britain of acting as a Western organizer and cheerleader of the harsh NATO response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Follow NuclearWeapons.news for more news about Russia’s nuclear capabilities.

Watch the video below to know why Russia’s Sarmat (Satan 2) is the most powerful missile in the world.

https://www.collapse.news/2022-06-02-russia-can-destroy-america-with-four-missiles.html

These countries have an INTERNET KILL SWITCH (and they admit it) Monday, September 27, 2021 by: News Editors

(Natural News) What do you suppose would happen if the President of the United States deemed it necessary, for “national security,” to flip the Internet Kill Switch? In these digital times, there should be great concern over something like this. However, normalcy bias seems to have a firm hold on a majority of the citizens of the US, and many are clinging to the “it can’t happen here“ theory.

(Article by Aden Tate republished from TheOrganicPrepper.com)

The United States has yet to employ this particular tool. However, according to data gathered to examine the financial impact of internet shutdowns, since 2019, there have been 237 major internet shutdowns in 45 countries. [source]

What is an internet kill switch?

An internet kill switch is a device/software/configuration that allows one to shut down all internet access within a region or country indefinitely. If activated, the kill switch would prevent everyone from checking social media, shopping online, using online messenger services, sending emails, or anything else involving an internet connection.

In many cases, this may also include any form of phone contact (it varies). 

Which countries have already used the internet kill switch?

Hackers have the ability to down the entire internet system, as we have seen with op article and op article. However, governments around the globe have also resorted to shutdowns, claiming it to be necessary for public safety. For example, India (a democratic nation) was the global leader in shutdowns in 2019, with over 150 in 3 years. [source]

See if you spot the recurring theme among the following shutdowns:

Cuba

On July 11, Cuban citizens rallied in the streets to protest food and medicine shortages and electricity outages. Within two days, the Cuban government began restricting internet access. 

China

Back in 2009, riots broke out in Xinjiang. The communists responded by shutting down the internet to the region for an entire year. [source]

Egypt

Amid protests, Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak cut off nearly all internet access and shut down all cell phone services. The shutdown lasted for five days. [source]

Iran

November 16, 2019, Iran authorities flipped the switch, plunging citizens into digital darkness for nearly 11 days. According to an Amnesty International press release, the deliberate shutdown was an attempt to hide the horrendous killings across the country.

Zimbabwe

In 2019, President Mnangagwa announced a fuel price increase. Protests against the increase caused Mnangagwa to shut down the internet. Critics called the shutdown “an attempt to hide growing reports of a violent crackdown on protests.” [source]

South Sudan

Protests? We can fix that with an internet shutdown. [source]

Zambia

Election day, 2021, warranted shutting down many social media platforms and some messaging apps. Although the Zambian government denied the reports, Secretary Amos Malupenga mentioned there would be no hesitation to take appropriate measures. [source]

Colombia

Colombia’s government used this innovative means of stopping protests here in May 2021 – an internet shut down. [source]

The Republic of the Congo

Another election day shutdown in 2021. This time in The Republic of the Congo. [source]

Armenia

Political unrest led to an internet shutdown here. [source] 

Russia

I think mentioning the word ‘elections’ regarding Russia is enough to make anybody laugh. Have a pesky election-tracking app you need shut down? A partial internet shutdown can do the trick. [source]

Myanmar

Coup underway? Better shut off the internet. [source]

Ethiopia

Ethiopia’s government shut down the internet 12 times before blacking out the country for nearly 16 days in 2020. Reports said this was an attempt to muzzle activists demanding justice for the killing of a beloved musician. [source]

Does the United States have an internet kill switch?

Technically, yes.

Under an entirely unconstitutional 1930s law on the books: 47 USC 606: War Powers of President; Chapter 5, Subchapter VI, the President has the authority to wield that mighty weapon.

The 1930s law reads: 

(c) Suspension or amendment of rules and regulations applicable to certain emission stations or devices

Upon proclamation by the President that there exists war or a threat of war, or a state of public peril or disaster or other national emergency, or in order to preserve the neutrality of the United States, the President, if he deems it necessary in the interest of national security or defense, may suspend or amend, for such time as he may see fit, the rules and regulations applicable to any or all stations or devices capable of emitting electromagnetic radiations within the jurisdiction of the United States as prescribed by the Commission, and may cause the closing of any station for radio communication, or any device capable of emitting electromagnetic radiations between 10 kilocycles and 100,000 megacycles, which is suitable for use as a navigational aid beyond five miles, and the removal therefrom of its apparatus and equipment, or he may authorize the use or control of any such station or device and/or its apparatus and equipment, by any department of the Government under such regulations as he may prescribe upon just compensation to the owners.

Perhaps you think this only applies to radios. It couldn’t possibly apply to your laptop or phone, right?

Don’t forget your devices use radio waves to receive their internet access. In addition, your devices can access Google Maps, which would qualify your computer as a navigational aid.

Read more at: TheOrganicPrepper.com and BigGovernment.news.

https://naturalnews.com/2021-09-27-these-countries-have-an-internet-kill-switch.html

George Bush-era documents reveal government plans for apocalyptic events that include a “kill switch and detentions” Thursday, June 02, 2022 by: JD Heyes

(Natural News) A newly uncovered document is providing the latest proof why the Washington establishment and deep state swamp hate Donald Trump — because he truly represents We the People, America First, and is not a calculating, closet authoritarian.

Until Trump, we elected stereotypical Democrats and Republicans who appeared to be political opponents but really weren’t. Cases in point: George H. W. Bush teamed up with Bill Clinton on Global Initiatives, while Bush’s son, George W., the 43rd president, has also formed a bond with Clinton, one of the most corrupt men ever to sit in the Oval Office. And all three of them have also joined Barack Obama at times on other global initiatives.

The point is, Trump isn’t like that: He’s not a ‘team’ player, which is to say, he’s not on the deep state team.

Why does all of this matter? Because of that newly uncovered document.

‘Republican’ George Bush was supposed to be a champion of freedom and liberty — like most of the GOP — and yet, while in office, he signed off on a plan to mass incarcerate Americans as well as pull a “kill switch” on communications including the Internet in an apocalyptic situation like nuclear war.

According to Zero Hedge:

Previously classified files obtained by the Brennan Center for Justice reveal that the 2004 George W. Bush administration conducted a holistic review of the president’s emergency powers, with the goal of modernizing a set of secret plans for continuity-of-government in a nuclear war.

The George W. Bush Presidential Library turned over 500 out of 6,000 pages of the documents, known as “presidential emergency action documents” (PEADs), which “shed troub­ling new light on the powers that modern pres­id­ents claim they possess in moments of crisis,” according to the Brennan Center, which obtained the records through a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request.

PEADS are a creation of the Cold War, and understandably so; the world literally teetered on the brink of nuclear destruction on more than one occasion, especially when the chance of a Soviet first-strike nuclear attack was strongest. The earliest known drafts were reported to have contained authorities that drew from broad interpretations of presidential and executive powers.

Official reports from the 1960s noted that various PEADs gave presidents the authority to implement measures like suspending habeas corpus in order to detain “dangerous persons” within the country, to engage in news media censorship, and to bar international travel (of note, Abraham Lincoln suspended habeas corpus during the Civil War and also censored news media sympathetic to the South).

Following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on the U.S., one Bush administration official saw updating the PEADs as an “urgent and compelling security effort, especially in light of ongoing threats.”

Though the Brennan Center could not obtain more recent PEADs, the documents the organization did receive “show some of the most disturbing aspects of early-Cold War emergency action documents” were kept in place at least until 2008.

“At least one of the docu­ments under review was designed to imple­ment the emer­gency author­it­ies contained in Section 706 of the Commu­nic­a­tions Act,” the Brennan Center reported. “During World War II, Congress gran­ted the pres­id­ent author­ity to shut down or seize control of ‘any facil­ity or station for wire commu­nic­a­tion’ upon proclam­a­tion ‘that there exists a state or threat of war involving the United States.’

“This fright­en­ingly expans­ive language was, at the time, hemmed in by Amer­ic­ans’ limited use of tele­phone calls and tele­grams. Today, however, a pres­id­ent will­ing to test the limits of his or her author­ity might inter­pret ‘wire commu­nic­a­tions’ to encom­pass the inter­net — and there­fore claim a ‘kill switch’ over vast swaths of elec­tronic commu­nic­a­tion,” the center opined.

And of note, could that ’emergency declaration’ be tied to the economic collapse that the Biden regime is fomenting? Or another mass shooting?

The Bush administration repeatedly noted that the then-president could claim very “broad” powers under equally broad interpretations of the law and the Constitution. There’s no question that the same ‘Obama family’ of officials running Biden’s regime would do the same.

This is why it matters that the Clinton-Bush-Obama nexus is running our government again and not a true America First patriot in one Donald Trump.

Sources include:

ZeroHedge.com

NaturalNews.com

https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-06-02-george-bush-era-documents-plans-apocalyptic-events-kill-switch-and-detentions.html

European gas importers quietly surrender to Russia and begin buying gas in RUBLES… while the West’s economic warfare scheme disastrously BACKFIRES Thursday, May 12, 2022 by: Lance D Johnson

(Natural News) When the Russian military crossed into Ukraine and Vladimir Putin stated his military objectives there, European leaders were quick to escalate the situation, imposing sweeping economic and banking sanctions against the Russian people. These sanctions caused a domino effect of unintended consequences throughout Europe and the West.

The United States, Canada and Europe put up a tough, “united front” against Russia, but as their trade war against Russia escalated, supply chains were threatened and prices for valuable commodities increased throughout the West. European leaders talked a big talk against Vladimir Putin from the start, making empty demands without having much leverage at all. Russia responded to the sanctions by demanding that hostile nations in the West pay for Russian energy supplies with gold or Russian rubles. Vladimir Putin called Europe’s bluff and exposed the vulnerabilities of the West.

European gas buyers are now paying for energy in Russian rubles, emboldening Russia

Now the head of the European Central Bank, Mario Draghi, is confirming that European gas buyers are paying for energy in Russian rubles.  Draghi now says that “most gas importers” have opened up Ruble accounts with Gazprom and have acquiesced to Russian demands. One after the other, European gas buyers are violating the EU’s sanctions against Russia, as Western tough talk becomes nothing but a mere echo of weakness. The world’s reserve currency – the U.S. dollar – is taking a historic blow in the process, as Russia circumvents the petrodollar.

The West is quietly surrendering to Russia, as the Kremlin holds oil and fertilizer as leverage over the West. At the same time, the Biden regime is threatening to send more U.S. weapons and military equipment (up to $20 billion worth) to Azov, the Nazi brigades fighting in Ukraine. This is the same Nazi battalion that received rocket-propelled grenade launchers from a coordinated arms transfer at the U.S. embassy in Kiev, Ukraine. This is the same Azov battalion that received training from Western instructors over the past eight years. Not only have U.S. sanctions backfired, but their desperate military alliance with the Azov Nazi battalion have only put innocent Ukrainian people further in harm’s way.

Italian Prime Minister reveals that the West is capitulating to Russia, as the West’s economic warfare backfires

As the Prime Minister of Italy, Draghi tried to claim that Italy would be able to pay for gas without breaching the EU sanctions against Russia. However, when questioned on how confident he was that Italy would be able to keep gas flowing without violating EU sanctions, Draghi tried to weasel his way out. “I’m actually quite confident, but for a silly reason. There is no official pronouncement of what it means to breach sanctions. Nobody ever said anything about whether rubles payments breach sanctions or not, how these payments are organized. So, it’s such a gray zone here.”

The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen made it clear on April 27 that European gas companies should not bend to Russia’s energy demands. “Companies with such contracts should not accede to the Russian demands,” von der Leyen said. “This would be a breach of the sanctions so a high risk for the companies.”

Draghi finally confessed that most of Europe couldn’t defend its sanctions and was already kowtowing to Putin’s energy demands. “As a matter of fact, most gas importers have already opened an account in rubles with Gazprom,” Draghi said, revealing that Europe continues to pay billions per day to Russia and on Russia’s terms! There is not a united front against Russia. It’s all empty talk.

Russia will continue to destroy any military equipment that is brought into Ukraine by NATO countries, and they will get rich while doing so, as the West’s economic and banking warfare schemes backfire, as supply chains shake worldwide, and as innocents continue to suffer.

Sources include:

Zerohedge.com

NaturalNews.com

NaturalNews.com

Sovren.media

Gazprom cuts off gas supply to several EU members in response to sanction threats Friday, June 03, 2022 by: Belle Carter

(Natural News) Gazprom has cut off gas supply to Denmark’s Orsted, as well as to Shell Energy for its contract to supply gas to Germany.

The Russian gas producer announced the move Wednesday, June 1, citing the companies’ failure to make payments in rubles. It was an obvious response to recent statements by European Union (EU) leaders that they will block most Russian oil imports by the end of 2022 to punish Moscow for invading Ukraine.

Russia has also halted gas supply to Dutch gas traders GasTerra, Bulgaria, Poland and Finland after their refusal to pay in Russian rubles. Gas importers from Germany, Italy and France said they would engage with the Kremlin’s payment requirement to maintain their supplies. (Related: European gas importers quietly surrender to Russia and begin buying gas in RUBLES… while the West’s economic warfare scheme disastrously BACKFIRES.)

Meanwhile, Danish system operator Energinet’s data showed that the flow of natural gas to Denmark via Germany remained steady as of Wednesday.

The EU gets about 40 percent of natural gas from Russia, which is also the bloc’s main oil supplier. Some countries are more dependent on Russian fossil fuels than others, so the supply cuts could have varied economic impacts.

Nathan Piper, head of oil and gas research at Investec, warned of the ongoing risk that efforts to reduce Russian oil and gas imports would result in higher oil and gas prices. “Russian volumes may gradually be reduced but they are ‘compensated’ by higher overall prices,” he said.

The EU bloc has been filling gas storage sites in preparation for the winter following the threats of cutting the Russian supply. No sanctions on Russian gas exports have been imposed, although plans to open a new gas pipeline from Russia to Germany have been frozen.

Meanwhile, EU leaders have agreed on an immediate ban on Russian oil being transported into the bloc by sea.

In late March, Russia said “unfriendly countries” would have to start paying for its oil and gas in rubles after Western allies froze billions of dollars it held in foreign currencies overseas.

Under the decree, European importers must pay euros or dollars into an account at Gazprombank, the Swiss-based trading arm of Gazprom, and then convert this into rubles in a second account in Russia. Ninety-seven percent of EU companies’ gas supply contracts with Gazprom stipulate payment in euros or dollars.

EU’s dependence on Russian oil means it is bankrolling the war in Ukraine

EU countries are aware that their dependence on buying gas and oil from Russia means bankrolling the war in Ukraine but they cannot do much about it, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi admitted after a two-day EU summit in Brussels on May 31.

During the summit, EU leaders agreed to a partial embargo on Russian oil.

“There is, especially in some countries, an awareness of the impossibility of [not buying Russian energy]. So, it is a very frustrating situation, but it will have to be resolved. It is a very embarrassing situation,” Draghi added.

EU also knows, Draghi admitted, that Russia uses the proceeds from energy exports to support its efforts in the Ukraine conflict.

The Russian decree created in March indicates that one account be created in euros or dollars and another one in rubles.

The move was initially rejected by the EU since the transaction could involve the sanctioned Russian central bank. But later, EU revised the guidelines on the issue, which led some companies, including Italy’s Eni SpA, to allow the payment method.

Draghi said the mechanism left him confused, but stated that Eni legally settled its bills in euros, which allows it to remain compliant with EU sanctions. Eni has said it has opened accounts in both rubles and euros with Gazprombank.

Italy depends highly on the Russian gas supplies, but Draghi said the Italian government is now working on securing new gas deals in Africa and other suppliers elsewhere.

Visit WWIII.news for more news related to the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Watch the below video about Russia halting gas supply to Finland.

https://www.naturalnews.com/2022-06-03-gazprom-cuts-off-gas-supply-eu-members.html