This has been a bad week for Europe’s energy consumers, but a satisfying one for Vladimir Putin. European benchmark gas prices on Friday were six times higher than a year ago — but did fall back from an all-time high midweek after Russia’s president suggested Moscow might be prepared to stabilise prices. Politicians once consoled themselves that Russia could never afford to cut off gas to Europe since that would crash its economy. Recent weeks have shown Moscow has no need to turn off the taps: in a supply crunch, it can exert outsize influence even while continuing to fulfil all its long-term contracts, simply by withholding any extra gas.
這一週對歐洲的能源消費者來說是糟糕的一週，但對弗拉迪米爾•普丁(Vladimir Putin)來說卻是令人滿意的一週。週五，歐洲基準天然氣價格較一年前上漲5倍，但在俄羅斯總統暗示莫斯科可能準備穩定價格後，價格確實從週中的歷史高點回落了。政客們曾安慰自己說，俄羅斯永遠也承受不起切斷對歐洲的天然氣供應，因爲這將導致其經濟崩潰。最近幾周的現實表明莫斯科無需關閉天然氣供應閥門，在供應緊張的情況下，哪怕是繼續履行所有長期合同，它都可以發揮巨大的影響力——只要不提供任何額外天然氣供應就行。