Newsletter: Russian Gas and Defense in the North

"When Sweden joins NATO, the alliance is strengthened and Nordic defense cooperation can be deepened", says Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson. He chaired the defense meeting in Iceland by virtue of this year's Swedish chairmanship of NORDEFCO. (Photo: Iceland's Ministry of Foreign Affairs)

Published at: Jun 25 2023 - 18:11 / Updated at: Jun 25 2023 - 18:11

Dear reader. Despite being sanctioned, Russian gas is finding its way to both the EU and Asia while the war continues to rage in Ukraine. At the same time, the defense cooperation is tightening in the Arctic. Here is the week as seen from the north.

Text Trine Jonassen

EU countries, led by Belgium, France, and Spain, have imported Russian LNG representing approximately $20 billion in revenue, since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In other words, gas produced in the Russian Arctic continues to flow almost uninterrupted into Europe despite Russia having been at war in Ukraine for over a year.

Now, Russian killers are also getting out of prison to go to war.

“That is happening concurrently as Russian industrial companies are setting historic sales records. War is an absurd place”, writes Editor-in-Chief Arne O. Holm in this week's commentary.

At the same time, we see that the Russian gas company Novatek’s long-awaited hub for liquefied natural gas is about to arrive in the Barents Sea.

A new report on the Northern Sea Route shows stable traffic originating from the Russian Arctic but also notes that international transit traffic on the route has declined sharply.