Europe needs an alternative to Russian natural gas

OVER THE past decade, Russian President Vladimir Putin has extorted fealty from his neighbors by using energy, particularly natural gas, as a political cudgel. In 2006 and 2009, Gazprom, the Russian state gas monopoly, suspended exports to Ukraine, demonstrating its willingness to withhold fuel from millions of customers to push them around. Now, in the tensest conflict yet between the two nations, Russia is threatening to boost the price Ukrainians pay for gas imports.

This behavior has boomeranged to some extent. Along with other developments in world energy markets, Russia’s subordination of economic considerations to political ones has given both Ukraine and the West incentive to diversify their supply sources, which has increased their leverage. That should help Ukraine and the European Union resist Russia’s aggression now and do more to free themselves from Gazprom’s grip in the future.

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