Qatar unable to supply gas to Europe in years to come

Qatar is ready to supply gas to Europe, but it will take five to seven years, country's Minister of Energy Saad al-Kaabi said at the Doha forum.

According to him, against the backdrop of the conflict in Ukraine, anti-Russian sanctions and as a result of the worsening energy crisis, Qatar will not be able to start gas supplies to Europe in the near future.

“I don’t think we can immediately help [Europe] at the moment. No one can take Russia's place in energy supplies,” he said.

Earlier, he also said that Qatar would not be able to replace Russia, since it accounts for 30-40% of the gas supplied to Europe and the emirate is not able to replace such volumes.

“We will not be able to quickly replace Russian gas in the European Union in one day, it takes time, about five to seven years,” the minister said.

Against the backdrop of tightening sanctions against Russia on March 23, President Vladimir Putin instructed to transfer payments for gas into rubles for "unfriendly countries."

Later, Der Spiegel wrote that Putin's statement about paying for gas in rubles instead of dollars and euros stunned the West.