4 ms·

Germany’s recent reliance on Russian oil also paved the way for Putin to invade Ukraine, as both left (Obama) and right (Trump) warned Germany would happen.

• option 4y ago
  Exactly. And now they don’t have cheap and abundant gas (which is better than coal). So their choices are: (1) to pollute more with coal, (2) to de-industrialize, (3) give up on Europe’s security and offer concessions to russia.
  • RandomLensman 4y ago
    Gas itself isn't an issue. Germany does have a lot of shale gas it could tap. Politically very tough at present, though.
• _ph_ 4y ago
  Fortunately, Germany was able to completely replace fossil fuels from Russia.
  • qwytw 4y ago
    Yes. With high energy prices and burning more coal. Seems like a great deal. Also oil price is still as low as it is because Russia is allowed to export most of it into third countries which decreases demand for non-Russian oil making it cheaper for Germany/EU. As long as Russia has access to the global market Germany has not really replaced it even if none of or its products directly ended up in Germany. The only positive aspect is that China/India/etc. get to keep a significant proportion of cash which would go to Russia without the sanctions. There is no way around it. German foreign policy regarding Russia over the last 2 decades was a huge failure. Of course the same applies to many other countries but Germany is one of the most egregious examples...