Paul Hockenos
Russia’s brutal, illegal war on Ukraine is lumbering into its fourth year, yet Europe still hasn’t used all its leverage against Moscow. Despite far-reaching cutbacks that have transformed global energy markets—and the European Union’s pledge to terminate all energy deals with Russia by 2027—the continent still maintains multifarious links to the Russian energy sector. Several European countries have failed to completely sever their energy ties to Russia, and the notoriously pro-Russian governments of Hungary and Slovakia are among them—but they are not alone. In 2024, only Slovakia deposited more into Russian accounts for fossil fuels than France, followed by Hungary, Austria, and Spain.
A December report from the Center for the Study of Democracy (CSD) concluded, “Although Russian fossil fuel exports to the West have decreased, glaring loopholes in the sanctions’ regime persist.” Nowhere are the failings more prominent than with liquified natural gas (LNG). In 2024, the EU imported a record 16.5 million metric tons of LNG from Russia, surpassing the 15.2 million in 2023.
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