Russia’s incursions into Ukraine and its seizure of Crimea threw a spotlight on Gazprom’s stranglehold on Europe’s gas market, and sent many policymakers into a tizzy worrying over how to reduce dependence on Russian supplies. For years Moscow has wielded its enormous oil and gas reserves as a geopolitical lever in Europe, and the tug-of-war over Ukraine seemed a perfect illustration of the strategic disadvantage Europe’s reliance produced.But that energy weapon cuts both ways: Russia depends on Gazprom for a large part of its budget revenue, and Gazprom in turn relies on its European customers. It doesn’t take a logician …read more
Source: The American Interest
