6 2GM Wednesday January 26 2022 | the times
News
The United States is in talks with
energy-producing countries and com-
panies to source enough gas to replace
Russian supplies to Europe if Moscow
halts supplies in retaliation for western
sanctions.
Biden administration officials men-
tioned Australia and Qatar, as well as
the US, as potential alternative sources
of liquefied natural gas for Europe but
would not discuss others because of the
market-sensitive nature of the talks.
US officials said talks were under way
“in North Africa, the Middle East and
Central Asia... to bring enough gas to
supply the amount that we need” to
limit Russia’s ability to wage a fuel war
with Europe in the middle of winter.
News of the talks lifted the veil on a
global game of chess between western
allies and Moscow over the wider rami-
fications of sanctions triggered by any
invasion of Ukraine.
Russia’s main leverage to dissuade
nations from joining economic penal-
ties are its vast fuel reserves: it provides
about a third of the gas and crude oil
used in Europe.
European officials suspect President
Putin instigated the Ukraine crisis in
winter to maximise his leverage, mak-
ing alternative supplies expensive and
difficult to source quickly.
“We expect to be prepared to ensure
alternative supplies covering a signifi-
cant majority of the potential shortfall,’’
a senior US official said. “If Russia de-
cides to weaponise its supply of natural
gas or crude oil, it wouldn’t be without
consequences to the Russian economy.
This is a one-dimensional economy
[that] needs oil and gas revenues at least
as much as Europe needs its energy.”
The official declined to say which
countries were co-operating other than
Australia, Qatar and the US but potent-
ial sources are thought to include Nor-
way and Saudi Arabia. The official said
the task involved boosting “a few car-
goes of different suppliers’’ and couldinvolve sending liquefied natural gas
from America and elsewhere.
Officials would not say how much of
Europe’s needs could be met by divert-
ing fuel from other sources. Some of the
plans appear to be preliminary in what
has turned into psychological warfare
between Russia and the West, with the
Kremlin warning European nations to
stay out of the conflict over Ukraine.
James Heappey, a British defenceTusk master A 150-year-old Indian elephant skull is among more than a million objects at the Leeds Discovery Centre, which is reopening its storeroom to the public
Blueprint of first tank
The only known blueprint for the
first tank used in battle, the
British-made Mark I, has been
put up for sale. Laidlaw
Auctioneers of Carlisle said the
technical plans had come from a
private vendor whose family had
owned them for “some
considerable time”. Dated 1916,
they are expected to fetch £20,
at auction on February 25.Fraud pair are jailed
A man who conned investors,
convincing them to put funds
into diamonds, has been jailed
for nearly four years by
Southwark crown court. David
Shivmangal, of Purley, Surrey,
was convicted of conspiracy to
defraud. Glenn Ward, of
Orpington, Kent, was convicted
of money-laundering offences
and jailed for three years.Rethink on drill music
The Crown Prosecution Service is
to review its guidance over the
use of drill music — a type of rap
— as evidence, amid fears it
could stop defendants receiving
fair trials. Dame Cressida Dick,
commissioner of the
Metropolitan Police, has urged
YouTube to take down drill
music videos, as she said they
“glamorised” violent crime.Meat saltier than sea
Campaigners have criticised the
“dangerously high” levels of salt
in sliced supermarket meats.
Action on Salt looked at 555
pre-cooked packaged meats such
as ham and salami and found that
a quarter contained more than
2.5g per 100g — exceeding the
salt content of the Atlantic
Ocean. Waitrose was found to be
the most prolific offender, with
93 per cent of its own-label meats
exceeding salt content guidelines.
The NHS says adults should eat
no more than 6g of salt a day.AACDEEEF
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RRS STWZ ZSolve all five clues using each
letter underneath once only1 Member of a pride (4)2 Bare, unelaborated (5)3 Our Man in Havana author (6)4 Arrivals (7)5 The ---, 1939 film musical (6,2,2)Quintagram®No 1222
Solutions MindGames in Times
Cryptic clues Page 10 of TimesDANNY LAWSON/PAUS-led gas alliance to insulate
Europe from Putin energy war
minister, said intelligence pointed to
Russia having sent an advance force
into Ukraine before an invasion.
A day after Washington said it was
putting 8,500 US troops on alert to
bolster Nato forces in Europe, the
Russian military announced it was
conducting new drills involving 6,
troops in the Crimea region and near
Ukraine.
The former head of MI6, Sir Alex
Younger, said Putin would now struggle
to back out of an invasion. He told the
BBC Toda y programme that the crisis
was getting more dangerous and it was
“hard to see how he can avoid having to
follow through to some extent”.
In a Commons statement, Boris
Johnson raised the prospect of sending
soldiers to Hungary to bolster Nato’s
defences and said western leaders were
“in discussions” about banning Russia
from the Swift banking system, the
main international payments system.
James Sherr, senior associate fellow
at Chatham House, told the Commons
defence committee that severing
Russia from Swift would be a “step
change” but that he doubted the gov-
ernment had the political will to follow
through given its tolerance of Russian
money laundering through London.
Michael McFaul, a former US
ambassador to Moscow, has said that
Swift sanctions would affect millions of
ordinary Russians without seriously
damaging the Putin regime, and also hit
allied economies.
Soaring gas prices could lead to global
famine, Roger Boyes, page 26
Probing Putin for weak spot, letters,
page 28
Thousands branded Ukraine’s enemies
within, Anthony Loyd, page 31David Charter Washington
Larisa Brown Defence Editor
Catherine Philp
Diplomatic Correspondent
Hitting the Kremlin where it hurts
Economic sanctions
being drawn up by the
West could include:The “nuclear option”
Russian banks could be
cut off from the Swift
banking system, the
dominant international
payments system,
which handles
transactions worth
£100 trillion a week
between banks in 200
countries. This would
starve Russia of access
to dollar payments, as
happened to Iran in- The option was
considered in 2014, but
Putin said it would in
effect be a declaration
of war and the allies
backed down. This
might be the toughest
option, but it would also
hurt other economies,
including that of the US.
Restrictions on exports
The US could limit
exports of high-tech
equipment vital in
everything from
warplanes to
smartphones, artificial
intelligence and
quantum computing.
This could “hit Putin’s
strategic ambitions to
industrialise his
economy quite hard”,
according to a senior US
official. The downside: it
could force businesses
to look for alternatives
in countries like China.Targeting individuals
The West could impose
further sanctions on
oligarchs and freeze the
assets of individuals,
and impose visa bans.
Sanctioning the inner
circles of leaders and
their families is acommon tactic used by
the US. Britain has been
criticised in the past for
dragging its heels when
it comes to clamping
down on the oligarchs
who channel dirty
money through the UK.Dollar clearing
Russian and other
foreign banks have to
be able to access the US
financial system to
settle dollar deals. The
ability to block that
access means the US
can inflict financial pain
well beyond its borders.Nord Stream 2
The operators of
Russia’s Nord Stream 2
gas pipeline to Germany
could be hit hard by US
sanctions — if the
Republicans and
Democrats can agree.Arrest after boy dies
A woman aged 49 was arrested
on suspicion of murder after a
five-year-old boy was found
with fatal injuries at a house in
Coventry yesterday evening.
Police and paramedics went to
the property in Earlsdon and the
child was confirmed dead.
West Midlands police began
door-to-door inquiries and
forensics officers were called in.