Final Word from Tuesday, November 21, 2023

Ukrainian Foreign Min. Dmytro Kuleba told Die Welt that his country is bracing for its worst winter ever by trying to protect its power plants as best it can, knowing that the Russians have learned a few things. Czech PM Petr Fiala has already said that we can expect Russia to hit Ukraine's critical infrastructure again and that we might need to help it in the area of energy. At the same time, the exemption allowing imports of Russian petroleum products from Slovakia is ending on Dec. 5, and Chair Oszkár Világi of Slovnaft told Týdeník Echo that his company won't have enough non-Russian motor fuels for all its customers. TV Nova cited Foreign Min. Jan Lipavský as saying that this is a very one-sided view of things and that his own analysis of the situation certainly does not look so bad. Industry Min. Jozef Síkela lulled people in Parliament on Thur. with more talk about energy independence, but forward-looking Czechs might want to follow Kuleba in bracing for the worst winter ever. [ Czech Republic STAN minister gasoline diesel oil ]