Russia was a bomb waiting to go off since, oh, 1914. Or probably earlier.
They can’t help themselves.
It was always dumb to set up a utility connection to those screwballs. Its OK to buy their exports, but thats something you can do without for a bit, or find other sellers. But what the Germans did is set their system up to give them (partial) control over their electric sockets - you know, what you plug your Braun coffee maker into.
“Russia was a bomb waiting to go off since, oh, 1914.”
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Yet is was Europe’s Princes-Dukes-Grand High Hockey Pucks that made things go BOOM in 1914. Was the first time in that century Russia got pulled into trying to stop the Euros from setting themselves & everyone else afire.
But, as you noted, Russia’s been around for a very long time and it’s immense energy resources are not going anywhere. The countries of the world understand this and realize the best course was to make Russia a codependent/partner in the world going forward.