Europe Must Stop Paying for Russia’s War

Summary:

Russia’s war on Ukraine seemed to be settling into a bloody stalemate, with both sides able to win local victories, but neither able to defeat the other decisively. Russian President Vladimir Putin opened a new front economically, however, in demanding that “unfriendly countries” pay for Russian gas in roubles. That could force them to transfer hard currency to the Central Bank of Russia to buy the roubles they needed. In effect, Putin wanted to force Europe to circumvent its own sanctions, and prop up his currency for him. Europe should decline to play this game. It should go further, however. It should stop spending up to €800 million per day on purchasing Russian gas. The higher the gas price rose, the more money flowed into the Russian government’s coffers, to be spent on – among other things – invading Ukraine.

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ESO Records

EUIdeas: March 2022: Smart sanctions and how to diminish Europe’s dependency on Russian gas https://www.europeansources.info/record/smart-sanctions-and-how-to-diminish-europes-dependency-on-russian-gas/

European Commission: COM (2022) 138 : Security of supply and affordable energy prices: Options for immediate measures and preparing for next winter https://www.europeansources.info/record/security-of-supply-and-affordable-energy-prices-options-for-immediate-measures-and-preparing-for-next-winter/

European Commission: COM (2022) 108: REPowerEU: Joint European Action for more affordable, secure and sustainable energy https://www.europeansources.info/record/repowereu-joint-european-action-for-more-affordable-secure-and-sustainable-energy/

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