Johnson's gas-or-Ukraine warning on 16 November 2021
A look back at the British prime minister's remarks linking Russian gas dependence to support for Ukraine amid reports of troop buildups.
What choice did Europe face over Russian gas and Ukraine? On 16 November 2021, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the west would have to choose between relying on Russian gas and supporting Ukraine. He spoke amid reported buildups of the Russian military near Ukraine's border.
The remark came as gas was also a theme of the border crisis between Belarus and the European Union. On 11 November 2021, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko suggested Belarus could halt natural gas supplies into Europe if the EU pushed for more sanctions. He also told the leaders of Poland, Lithuania and others, whom he called empty-headed, to think before speaking. EU member states were due to decide the following week on new sanctions over the human trafficking that had led to the crisis.
On 13 November 2021, Russian President Vladimir Putin responded that such a threat from Belarus would breach the contract with Russia. He said it may have been made in a fit of temper by Lukashenko.
Taken together, the reports from those days show gas supply being discussed in connection with both the Belarus border dispute and the military buildup near Ukraine.
