Qatar tells the EU that it is a reliable partner but refuses to enter into “polarization” over Russia

The Government of Qatar assured the European Union (EU) that it is a reliable trading partner and that it complies with its contractual obligations regarding the supply of gas, but at the same time it demanded “long term solutions” and said that he does not want to enter the “political polarization.

The Qatari Minister of Energy, Saad al Kaabi, held a telematic meeting with the EU Energy Commissioner, Kadri Simson, in which “affirmed that Qatar complies with its contractual obligations” and never “has failed to deliver any shipments to any of its partners”, indicated the official news agency of the Arab country, QNA.

QNA added that during the meeting “various aspects and areas of bilateral cooperation in the field of energy were discussed”, at a time when the EU and the United States are looking at Qatar as an alternative for the supply of gas to Europe in the face of a possible reduction in gas from Russia due to the conflict in Ukraine.

Al-Kaabi”affirmed Qatar’s continued readiness to support its customers around the world when needed”, according to the note.

However, his foreign colleague, Mohamed bin Abderrahamn al Zani, assured during an interview broadcast by the Qatari television network Al Jazeera that “the energy issue cannot be tackled through short-term solutions” and that his country will not be part of the “political polarization”.

“We will not be part of a political polarization.) It is about commercial competition in energy and that commercial competition is open and we aspire to compete with Russia, with the United States and with all the othersproducers, he stated.

Furthermore, he added that “it is not fair to link the energy problem in Europe with the current escalation between Russia and Ukraine because the energy problem existed before”.

The EU last week expressed its desire to strengthen the energy alliance with Qatar as one of the main gas exporters amid fears that a conflict in Ukraine would affect gas supplies to Europe.

Qatar is currently the fourth largest supplier of natural gas to the EU, with 5.2% of all purchases of this resource, below Algeria (8%), Norway (1%) and well behind Russia (4%). , on whom the community block also depends for the supply of crude oil, according to Eurostat data from 2019.