Comment by jwr
5 days ago
No, there won't be an open attack, at least not yet. There will be more of those "hybrid" incursions. Russians will be gradually increasing the intensity of those operations, so that it becomes the new normal. There will never be a clear "well now they are attacking" boundary to point to.
Meanwhile, the EU is still buying fossil fuels from Russia, thus paying for all this. It boggles the mind.
Long-term contracts. Also logistics is a harsh mistress. If you have no LNG terminals, your options of buying natural gas from the US are limited.
Fuck those contracts if one side of it is engaged in active war against another nation.
Unfortunately most people don't think like that. They might say fuck those contracts, but then next day will say "why is my heating so damn expensive, I want cheaper gas!". And how do you think they can get cheaper gas? Definitely not from USA.
You wont believe it but Ukraine still transits Russian oil through the Druzhba pipeline. A breach of contract is a big deal.
Technically the EU is buying from India which buys from Russia. Alas prices are still high in India, since the benefit is mainly going to a few billionaires. Our billionaires are even more richer than Chinese ones while our people are poorer.
No, the EU is also buying directly.
Last I checked, >1.2bn € per month, countries leading: Hungary, Slovakia, France, Bulgaria, Spain.