Europe needs to kick its addiction to Russian oil and gas

So, far from the European Union failing to stand up to Vladimir Putin – as many sneeringly predicted – the reality is that its many nations, with rare exceptions, are prepared to make the sacrifices required to help defend Ukraine and to secure their own futures.

Ukraine’s war with Russia has always been the West’s war with Russia because President Putin started it. There are no guarantees about where he will invade or who he will intimidate next. Had Ukraine been granted Nato membership, the war probably would never have begun – or would have been long over by now.

As things stand, the war will be more difficult to win without direct Nato intervention, despite an increased supply of sophisticated weaponry and intelligence. But with continuing pressure from economic sanctions, peace and the restoration of Ukrainian sovereignty remain realistic aims.

It does mean that Europe now needs to kick its addiction to Russian oil and gas.

Progress on that front has been unsteady but still moving in the right direction. The Nord Stream pipeline is pumping gas from Russia to Germany once again after its annual maintenance break, though at a reduced rate. Yet both the EU and Berlin know that this is neither a desirable nor sustainable state of affairs.

The continent’s largest economy is – almost against its will – financing Mr Putin’s war machine. For every cubic metre sent through the pipes to the Ruhr and elsewhere in the federal republic, Russia is continuing to exert a grip on Germany’s economy.

Much the same goes to other European states dependent on Russian hydrocarbons – hence the EU plan to reduce gas consumption by 15 per cent as winter approaches by building up reserves and increasing resilience. Russia could cut gas supplies at any point and trigger an industrial crisis in Germany, Italy, Spain and across the EU. Alternative supplies of gas – for example from Azerbaijan – are being secured by the EU, and the efforts of Ursula von der Leyen prove that the EU Commission is more than a Tower of Babel.

It is steering the pan-European resistance in determined and effective fashion, and in close lockstep with Nato. Apart from the regrettable absence of Britain, the accession of Finland and Sweden to Nato means that the EU is almost a perfect expression of the European “arm” of Nato.

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The EU – in conjunction with America and the global coalition of the willing – needs to do much more to peel Russia’s friends away from the Kremlin and towards the cause of peaceful resolution in international disputes. The results have been disappointing. Joe Biden came back from a trip to Saudi Arabia empty-handed after a personal plea to Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman. There will be no great gushing of Saudi oil wells to get fuel prices down in the West.

Sinophobia in the West continues to stymie attempts to persuade China to edge away from its dangerous liaison with Mr Putin. India and Turkey are too close to the Kremlin for their own good. Meanwhile, Mr Putin uses Ukrainian grain and cooking oil to effectively blackmail the developing world, just as he is trying to weaponise gas against Germany.

The spikes in inflation, cost of living crises and incipient recession in the advanced economies make it even more difficult to keep up the pressure on Mr Putin and his regime. They are also a perfect illustration of why such pressure is still needed. Much worse would follow from a Russian occupation of Ukraine – and Russian troops stationed in the EU’s back garden.

The sooner Mr Putin is pushed right back, the sooner the world’s economic crisis will be over – with no Kremlin threats of it returning.