“Multiple governments have already fallen, in Italy and the UK, both have new PMs.”
And yet they maintain the same policy of supporting the Ukraine. Public opinion and NATO obligations have endured Russia’s energy bullying, and now Russia has max’ed out what it can do on gas, to most of Europe. Didn’t work.
“Russia can sell all the gas it wants to other countries that have not sanctioned them”
No. the pipeline gas to Europe can’t physically be moved to other customers (oil largely can be, because most left on tanker ships, which can physically offload somewhere else). Pipelines and LNG terminals might be built in five or ten years, but finance and technical partners were withdrawn with the sanctions.
Russia is just burning off the gas that they used to sell to Europe. The volume of gas exports did not decline much until June. Since then, it has mostly been shut off. The full financial impact of that is just now working its way through the system, where most payments are monthly, with a grace period for settlement.
A few months of missed payments will play Hell with the Russian economy and Government finances. Russia has been more dependent on oil and gas revenues (half of GDP) than Saudi Arabia (1/3 of GDP).
They will likely print lots more new rubles (they have already been on a huge money printing spree), to pay the bills that gas revenues used to, but that just delays effects a few months, and moves around the impacts (rapid inflation next year). The real economy of actual activity (production, wages, etc.) is going to take a hit, as all the supporting industries for the former gas business suffer (supply chain and supporting industries, like restaurants in the gas towns).
Europe has planned out, costed out, and financed alternative sourcing of energy to replace Russian supplies. This Winter is the crunch, next Winter is still pricey, and then it is done.
Russia is screwed, and Putin did that to them.
New pipelines can and will be built, Russia will sell its entire supply of gas to China, Turkey, Hungry, India, all of South American and other countries not supporting the sanctions.
As long as the world economy runs on fossil fuels, which it will for the next few decades, Russia will never be without customers for its gas/oil, keep sanctioning them and removing their products from the world markets will has already driven prices up 4-fold and Russia will continue to make as much or more revenue even if sales drop.
You combine the sanctions with the Green Energy idiocy of the Western World and Russia will be a major player in world markets for a really long time.