View: Kyiv misses chances for upper hand in energy war
Semafor · Tim McDonnell ·
So far, this cycle of energy destruction and adaptation has served more to prolong the war than to push either side to the negotiating table.
Tim’s view
The balance of power in Ukraine’s energy war is shifting.
In Washington, bipartisan blowback is mounting against the Trump administration’s dangling of lucrative energy prizes for the Kremlin. Senate Democrats issued a stern warning on Monday that they plan to investigate any US entity that imports Russian diesel if they regain their majority after next week’s elections. Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell piled on, charging in a Wall Street Journal column that Trump’s handling of Russian President Vladimir Putin is “factually wrong, strategically naive, and morally bankrupt.” The EU is sticking to its guns on plans to end Russian gas imports next year. The days in which Moscow will be able to leverage its oil and gas to squeeze concessions from the West are rapidly shrinking.