British Prime Minister Boris Johnson today called on Western countries to end their “dependence” on Russian fossil fuels.
Johnson made the call shortly before his visit to Saudi Arabia, during which he will try to reach agreements that would lead to the stabilization of energy prices for British companies.
In an article in The Daily Telegraph, the prime minister wrote that Western leaders made a “terrible mistake” by not responding adequately to the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and allowing their countries to become more dependent on Russian gas and gasoline.
“When he finally started the war in Ukraine, he knew that it would be very difficult for the world to punish him. He knew he was addicted,” Johnson said.
“The world cannot be subjected to this ruthless blackmail,” the British Prime Minister said in an article calling for an immediate end to addiction.
The US and UK have decided to halt imports of Russian gas and oil, while the much more dependent European Union is set to limit gas imports from Moscow by two-thirds this year.
Boris Johnson wrote in his op-ed that Vladimir Putin’s Russia “produces virtually nothing else that the rest of the world wants to buy.”
“If the world manages to end its dependence on Russian oil and gas, we can stop Putin’s money, destroy his strategy,” Johnson said.