In early April, high-level Italian and French delegations traveled separately to Azerbaijan to discuss cooperation in the energy sector, including natural gas exports and “green” electricity generated from Caspian-basin wind (Minenergy.gov.az, April 2, 8). The twin visits occurred against the background of mounting anxieties about... MORE

On April 27, Russia’s Gazprom completely suspended natural gas supplies to Poland and Bulgaria under long-term contracts that were supposed to be valid through the end of 2022. The move was explained by Gazprom as a necessity, as the Russian gas importers in both countries... MORE

On April 19, the Latvian Economy Minister Jānis Vitenbergs announced his government’s decision to support entirely abandoning natural gas supplies from Russia by the end of 2022 (Em.gov.lv, April 19). The strategy in that regard relies on expanding liquefied natural gas (LNG) regasification capacity across... MORE

Russia’s full-scale war of aggression against Ukraine, which commenced on February 24 (Kremlin.ru, February 24), pushed the world’s largest advanced economies to introduce several rounds of increasing economic sanctions against the Russian Federation (Meduza, March 8). While the initial impact of those punitive measures seemed... MORE

On March 29, the Polish government announced that it will unilaterally place an embargo on Russian coal imports within two months (Rzeczpospolita, March 29); and a day later, it declared that Polish refineries will “do whatever they can” to terminate Russian crude supplies by the... MORE

The most compelling reason why the international community is opposed to any border change is the capacity of changes in one border to spark consideration of changes in others, creating or at least exacerbating problems in the relations between existing countries. Until Russian President Vladimir... MORE

On March 8, the European Commission announced plans to cut European Union imports of Russian natural gas by two-thirds by the end of 2022 (EurActiv—Polish service, March 9). Last year, Russia supplied EU consumers with 155 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas. Moreover, the EU... MORE

*To read Part One, please click here. Western reactions to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine have notably included provisions of lethal military equipment to the besieged country. These donations are crucial not only to Ukraine’s successful defense but also for securing the eastern... MORE

Since the start of Russia’s massive re-invasion of Ukraine, Kyiv has made repeated pleas to its Western partners for stepped-up military assistance. As a result, many have been sending weaponry, including lethal armaments, to Ukraine. Such support significantly boosts the capabilities of the Ukrainian Armed... MORE

On February 28, Poland’s Minister of Climate and Environment Anna Moskwa declared that the country would be ready to abstain from all Russian natural gas supplies as soon as today, if needed (Polskie Radio, February 28). Furthermore, on March 2, Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki... MORE