It is not heavy artillery strikes, atrocities and brute force that will win the war in Ukraine for Vladimir Putin, but rather cutting off gas to Europe. That moment of truth may be fast approaching: This week it will become clear whether Russia’s shutdown of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline, ostensibly for routine maintenance, will continue indefinitely.
If the taps are indeed turned off, the whining and swooning associated with Europe’s current heat wave will quickly give way to fears of a freezing winter, skyrocketing gas prices, industry stagnation and the galloping certainty of a deep recession.
We’ve known for decades that Putin is arming Gazprom, but we don’t fully understand what the weapon is
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