Putin on brink: ‘Symbolic’ move to hammer in final nail of dictatorship: ‘Massive impact’

Europe ‘too dependent’ on Russian gas says von der Leyen

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The West has already caused devastation to the Russian economy by targeting central banks, oligarchs, and by removing them from the SWIFT payment system. But the latest move from the EU could be the final nail in the coffin for Putin’s invasion as the bloc plans to completely slash energy ties with the Russian President, according to experts.

Russia makes huge profits from exporting energy to the EU, responsible for 40 percent of its natural gas, 27 percent of oil imports and 46 percent of coal imports.

Now, the bloc has published plan outlining how it will slash its dependence on gas by up to two-thirds in 2022, and completely rid itself of Russian supplies by the end of the decade.

Jess Ralston, from the Energy, Climate and Intelligence Unit, told Express.co.uk: “We have bankrolled the Russian economy for quite some time by buying so much of our energy from them.

“Energy is one of the biggest leverage points of that Russia has over Europe and cutting that off will have massive impacts on their economy.

“It is a huge step that will be not only symbolic, but I also think it would have very real-world impacts.

“Reducing our demand for Russian supply of energy is certainly not going to be popular over there, so there is going to be impact.”

Putin has manipulated his way into a position of dictatorship, currently serving his fourth term as President.

He was also Acting President from 1999 to 2000, succeeding Boris Yeltsin after Yeltsin’s resignation.

Under his reign, Putin has transformed Russia into an economic powerhouse following the break-up of the Soviet Union and earned backing in Government as a result.

But, with tough economic sanctions, he may no longer be able to bully his way into power.

The EU’s new plan involves looking for additional partners to export liquified natural gas (LNG) to rid the need for Russia’s pipeline gas and diversify its energy sources from things like biogas and renewables.

EU leaders met in Versailles on Thursday to discuss the strategy in an “informal meeting” after an official document was published on Tuesday.

Tracey German, from Kings College London, told Express.co.uk: “The plan unveiled by the European Commission is ambitious – cutting Russian gas imports by two-thirds within a year will increase reliance on coal in the short-term, but hopefully lead to a more rapid transition to clean energy sources than originally anticipated.

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“It may influence Putin’s calculus, but is unlikely to change his demands over Ukraine in the short-term.”

Ms German also warned that the move will likely send energy bills soaring.

She told Express.co.uk: “It could also be painful in the short term for consumers, if prices rise with increased competition for other supplies (for example, shifting away from Russian gas imports to LNG imports from other countries).

“Germany and Italy take the largest volumes of Russian natural gas, while some eastern European states, for example, Bulgaria, remain highly dependent on Russian energy imports.

“Longer term, reducing dependence on a single supplier is a positive step for the EU and energy security.”

But EU figures have argued that seeing bills rise is a compromise worth taking to try and limit Putin’s aggression.

Commissioner Valdis Dombrovskis warned that Putin’s aggression may not stop at Ukraine’s borders, with the Baltic countries of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania potentially next in line.

He suggested that any form of sanctions should come into play, regardless of whether that puts the bloc at risk.

He said: “What other trigger do we need? There’s a full-blown war, Russia is committing war crimes on an industrial scale, what more do we need? Russia is now undertaking unprovoked and illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine so [what is the point of] us worrying about provoking Russia when it started an unprovoked war?”

Mr Dombrovskis told Politico Playbook the EU would be able to cope without Russian supplies of gas for the time being and assured that the bloc could get through the winter without Russian supplies.

EU Climate chief Frans Timmermans also agreed that “nothing should be off the table”.

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