Russia is using gas supply to freeze Europe’s support for Ukraine

This weekend Russia’s invasion will grind over into its sixth month. Yet while the shooting part is (so far) confined to Ukraine, the war is doing considerable damage to Europe’s political and economic structures — and its commitment to standing up to Vladimir Putin.

The European Union member states are in a race to ramp down their energy dependency on Russian gas in as orderly a way as possible before Putin’s weaponisation of supply shatters support for Ukraine.

A quarter of Europe’s energy comes from gas, and 40% of that gas comes from Russia (more for countries in central Europe and Germany). About a quarter of Europe’s crude oil also comes from Russia.