Putin: "Meeting with Biden in Geneva in January"... European Natural Gas Prices Drop

Expectations for Easing Military Tensions Between Russia and the West
Netherlands TTF Natural Gas Prices Plunge 27%

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Hyunwoo Lee] Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that he will hold talks next month with U.S. President Joe Biden to discuss the Ukraine issue. As expectations grew that military tensions between Russia and the West would ease, European natural gas prices, which had surged due to concerns over Russia, also plummeted by more than 20%.

On the 23rd (local time), President Putin invited about 500 domestic and foreign journalists to an annual press conference held in Moscow and stated, "I plan to hold talks with President Biden in January next year in Geneva, Switzerland, to ease tensions on the Ukraine border," adding, "We have received generally positive responses to the security guarantee negotiations sent earlier to the United States."

President Putin emphasized, "The ball is now in the West's court," and said, "The United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) must promptly accept Russia's security guarantees." The security guarantees are demands Russia conveyed to the U.S. and NATO on the 15th, which include halting NATO membership for Ukraine and other former Soviet states and stopping NATO military activities in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.

The U.S. government is also reportedly preparing for a summit between the two countries early next month. Bloomberg News cited a senior U.S. official saying, "Diplomatic talks with Russia are ready as early as next month, and both bilateral and multilateral diplomacy will proceed," adding, "Russia must not escalate tensions further for substantive progress in negotiations."

As expectations grew that bilateral military tensions would ease and a diplomatic breakthrough would be made, European natural gas prices, which had soared, fell sharply. The Dutch TTF exchange, a major indicator of European gas prices, saw natural gas futures prices drop 27.11% from the previous session to 126 euros per megawatt-hour (MWh) on the day.

Energy specialist media OilPrice.com analyzed, "With the easing of geopolitical risks from Russia and about 30 U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) carriers heading to Europe, European natural gas prices have fallen significantly."