Europe’s messy Russian gas divorce

Dependency on Russian gas proved to be quite harmful for Europe’s energy security when Russian troops began invading Ukraine. The weaponization of energy supplies forced European countries to look beyond their unstable Russian partner. This story is usually told in heroic terms as the old continent managed to secure new supplies and weathered the storm in spite of Russia’s efforts.

As much as this is not false, this story hides the significant nuances between European countries and regions. This first paper highlights not only Russia’s grip and subsequent weaponization of European energy supplies, but also maps out Europe’s gas security challenges by regions and identifies the alternatives they sought out.

Finally, the researchers show the uncertainties that paint the horizon of Europe’s LNG imports from the US and the consequences of a decoupling from Russia’s gas for Ukraine’s economic future. Many questions regarding the future were left unanswered, prompting the continuation of this series of papers.

The authors of this paper are Samantha Gross, Director of Energy Security and Climate Initiative of the Brookings Institution, and Constanze Stelzenmüller, Director of the Center on the United States and Europe of the Brookings Institution.

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