I for example do not understand how it can be possible that Ukraine transports Russian gas on its pipeline network. Not sure if that's still the case though.
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It seems completely morally bankrupt... If instead of Russia it was ISIS, would they still send money just so they have cheap gas? Like at what point would they stop? Do the Russians need to be impaling babies and goosestepping through Red Square?
I also don't understand why Ukrainians don't feel a deep sense of betrayal about this
Morality has nothing to do with it, no democratic government will survive freezing its own people for some abstract principle.
I don't really understand the psychology of it. Are people for instance actively trying to use less gas in their personal lives?
Europe can’t defend Ukraine by destroying itself.
The irony is that the US slaps higher tariffs on most European countries than it does on Russia itself. As the old saying goes, "it may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal".
They are (arguably) playing for themselves first.
Actual EU action in this conflict has been pretty well aligned with citizen/voter interests in my opinion; this is not strictly a good thing, you could uncharitably call it "emergent unprincipled EU hypocrisy".
Many voters want energy safety, inflation to be kept in check and to minimize spending on foreign conflicts and national defense. Lots of Europeans agree with keeping Russian expansionism in check, but they don't really want to pay for it nor risk escalation.
Generally, sacrificing trade for ethical/moral reasons sounds like an easy sacrifice to make, but this comes at a real price (getting overtaken by "immoral" nations that don't, possibly ending with ethically worse global situations in the long term), and things like this get fierce opposition in a democracy where you have to balance ideology with the economical well-being of your voters (ideological voting is much more achievable if you can at least pretend that it aligns with economical self-interest somewhat).
To me, EU feet dragging in the Ukraine war is a bit sad but unsurprising.
Morality wise, I'd say several middle-eastern petro-states are significantly worse than Russia (non-democratic government, human rights violations at large scale epsecially against foreign workers), and trade with those has been going on for decades...
It's nigh on incomprehensible when political leaders' actions contradict their words, since politicians are always truthful. It seemingly happens often but will remain forever a mystery.
[1]: https://valvesector.com/lng-ships-and-storage-wars-how-europ...
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-russian-officials...
And wants to control Russian gas to the EU:
https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-investors-eye-str...
Nord Stream has been sabotaged, a huge US LNG deal was forced on the EU in the tariff negotiations. The US leased a corridor from Azerbaijan through Armenia to Turkey that could be a new energy choke point for fossil fuels from Azerbaijan or Turkmenistan (lots of natural gas) to the EU.
The EU is in a pretty bad position right now where it can be blackmailed with energy cutoffs not by Russia but by the US.
The Ukrainians can't feel betrayal because they have kept their own transit pipeline open until 2025, long after Nord Stream was blown up (allegedly by Ukrainians on a sail boat, see the recent arrests).
1. https://ofac.treasury.gov/media/930201/download
2. https://www.govinfo.gov/app/details/PLAW-117publ110
3. https://www.cbp.gov/trade/programs-administration/entry-summ...
4. https://media.bis.gov//about-bis/bis-leadership-and-offices/...
5. https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2022/03/15/2022-05...
6. https://ofac.treasury.gov/faqs/1024
7. https://www.cbp.gov/newsroom/national-media-release/cbp-fact...
8. https://ustr.gov/about-us/policy-offices/press-office/press-...
But yeah, it is not great look for democracies when they can't support good causes because it will cause harm domestically which leads to less votes.
It wasn't really, as the EU have no ability to make member states do basically anything around energy, so that clause accomplishes basically nothing.
Guess what happened with the pumping stations once the last reasonable countries stopped importing & the transfer contracts were no longer valid. Yes, boom.
And of course there was much wailing from those corrupted countries that did nothing to get ridd themselves from dependency on Russian energy - how very expected.
Might have something to do with Russia orchestrated terrorist attack agains Czech munition warehouses that killed two people in 2014[0].
Or the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968[1] - just because the local communist leaders happened to be a bit too much enlightened for their tastes.
Just a few days ago I went past memorial plague for the girl killed in protests against the Soviet invasion in 1969[2][3] - forever 18 years old...
There were lots of flowers, people still remember.
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2014_Vrb%C4%9Btice_ammunitio...
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warsaw_Pact_invasion_of_Czec...
[2] https://cs.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danu%C5%A1e_Muzik%C3%A1%C5%9...
[3] https://encyklopedie.brna.cz/home-mmb/?acc=profil-osobnosti&...
I am generally against arms deliveries, especially to Israel and Russia.
Sanctions should above all be effective. Russia is difficult to sanction especially if China and India do not play along.
The energy sanctions hurt Germany more than Russia, so I don't support them.
Specifically, I heat with gas in winter and try to reduce my consumption.