In Europe, in the context of the war in Ukraine, winter 2022-2023 is already being prepared in the energy sector. On Tuesday, July 26, the energy ministers of the European Union agreed in Brussels that their countries reduce their gas consumption in a coordinated way. In a sign of ever-increasing tensions between Moscow and Western countries, Russia has announced that it will stop participating in the International Space Station (ISS) “after 2024”.
EU countries agree to cut gas consumption
The Member States of the European Union have agreed to reduce their gas consumption in a concerted manner, to save this resource for the winter, during a meeting of the Council of the EU in Brussels. Gazprom’s announcement of a further reduction in its natural gas deliveries to Germany on Monday reminded us of the importance of no longer depending on Russia as it continues its offensive in Ukraine.
The system adopted on Tuesday should make it possible to pool the efforts of Europeans in the event of a shortage of gas, to help the countries which are most dependent on it. This is particularly the case of Germany, Europe’s largest economy, which Brussels wants to protect from an economic shock whose consequences could affect the whole Union. But the Twenty-Seven have changed the disputed terms of the first version of the agreement, proposed the previous week by the European Commission.
Russia will leave the ISS “after 2024”
Russia has announced that it will stop participating in the International Space Station (ISS) “after 2024”raising the question of its survival, against the backdrop of Russian-Western tensions due to the Russian offensive in Ukraine.
A model of international cooperation bringing together Europe, Japan, the United States and Russia, the ISS began to be assembled in 1998. Its retirement was planned for 2024, but NASA estimated that it could operate until 2030. Russia plays a key role in keeping the station in orbit, but some of its ships are affected by Western sanctions due to the assault on Ukraine.
Faced with sanctions, the Russian economy is holding up better than expected
The Russian economy should be less penalized by international sanctions this year than expected, as the IMF pointed out, adding that European countries, on the other hand, are suffering more than expected.
Russia’s gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to contract by 6.0% in 2022, the International Monetary Fund anticipates, much less than the 8.5% plunge it had forecast in its previous forecast published in April. .
More than six million Ukrainians internally displaced
More than six million Ukrainians are internally displaced, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). They join the approximately 5.5 million Ukrainians registered as refugees in other European states since the start of the invasion.