On April 5, 2022, the Valdai Discussion Club hosted an expert discussion titled “Gas for Rubles: Buy It If You Can,” which focused on the possible reshaping of the global energy landscape amid the Russia-Ukraine conflict, whether the EU can push Russian energy out of its fuel balance, and the reorientation of Russian energy to other markets. Among the invited panelists was Professor FU Chengyu, an expert at China Forum under Tsinghua University’s Center for International Security and Strategy and former Sinopec Chairman.

Western sanctions on Russia, especially in the energy sector, have added to the volatility of the global energy market and sent shockwaves through the world economy, said Professor Fu, who believes that the best solution for the West is not to find alternatives to Russian gas or oil, but to lift the sanctions, as it is the people of Russia and the people of the countries imposing the sanctions and even the people of the world who will have to bear the brunt. Professor Fu then called on countries to work to defuse rather than deepen the crisis.

Moderated by Ivan Timofeev, Program Director of the Valdai Discussion Club, the event also featured Alexander Losev, CEO, Sputnik Asset Management; Alexey Gromov, Chief Energy Director, Institute of Energy and Finance; Abbas Maleki, Professor of Energy Policy at Sharif University of Technology, former Iranian Deputy Foreign Minister and former President of the Institute of Politics and International Studies; and Nikolay Tsvyatkov, Associate Professor, Institute of Legal, Political and Sociological Research, Academy of Sciences of Moldova.