Energy war to happen over Ukraine: Analyst

Press TV has conducted an interview with William Jones, with the Executive Intelligence Review from Washington, about Ukraine accusing Russia of stealing energy resources in Crimea and threatening to take Russia to court over its recent gas price increase.

What follows is an approximate transcription of the interview.

Press TV: Mr. Jones, first of all can Ukraine take Russia to court over the gas price increase, or is this just part of a war of words that’s getting worse day by day?

Jones: Well they can’t and it is but not only a war of words, it is a reflection of the overall fight that has been going on between the West and Russia, it is really the case and Ukraine is kind of in the middle of this but is playing something of a role.

And I guess they can’t take them to court although it seems as if the EU is going to try to come in and bail out Ukraine, in spite of the fact that the European Union economy is in very, very bad shape. Their limits for aiding Ukraine are much more limited than one might think but they are trying to resolve this crisis, at the same time that they are beating the drums against Russia themselves.

If this continues, then of course there will be a tit for tat and whether they go to court or not will not make a difference but there will be an energy war in the context of what is threatening to become a hot war between the West and Russia.

Press TV: And of course Russia has also threatened Ukraine to stop sending gas to Ukraine. I mean what will the consequences be if this happens?

Jones: Well it would be terrible for Ukraine, which is in very bad economic shape as it begins. There have been a lot of promises made from the West, a lot of illusions about how to provide gas to Ukraine coming from the West but there is really no indication where that is going to come from since most of the Western countries in Europe are also dependent on this Russian gas and oil.

It seems to me that the only solution for Ukraine is that if they try and move in a direction of working together with the people who have protested and have declared their independence in the east to try to come to some kind of resolution within Ukraine which would bring down the tensions with Russia as well, otherwise there are serious problems ahead.