Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky
Europe has coping mechanisms for life after Russian gas
The Ukraine–Russia gas transit and interconnection agreements are due to expire at the end of this year, but despite some uncertainty, Europe seems well-prepared
The long-running conflict between Ukraine and Russia was—even before the 2022 full-scale invasion—always bound up in the politics of energy, specifically gas. Ukraine was a key conduit for Russian gas to reach the rest of Europe, and for years Moscow was able to leverage these flows and Ukraine’s own energy requirements against first Kyiv and then the EU. This climaxed in 2022, when the conflict entered a much bloodier and overt phase, and Putin attempted to use Europe’s heavy dependence on Russian gas in an effort to break NATO and EU cohesion and support for Ukrainian resistance. Those efforts were ultimately unsuccessful, and in the interim Europe has largely—although not entirely—weaned
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