The problem to begin with, was trusting Russia to be a stable business partner.
Even China has cheap alternatives to the recent natural gas deal that was only agreed on after 20 years of negotiations because a cornered and desperate Putin caved on the price and made a bad deal just so he could score political points with ill informed Russians. Putin is not in the tyrannical position of power you expect everyone to bow down to.
There are alternatives for Ukraine and others in the long run.
Putin shut off gas deliveries to Ukraine in June. That card has already been played.
Don’t think Gazprom, not Putin, shut off gas deliveries. They just insist on payment up front. As would you if you were not being paid.
The gas deal with China was also a GAZPROM negotiation, not Putin. Pipeline gas is very cheap so any price above cost is chaching. I see Kiev went hat in hand to GAZPROM just yesterday asking to re-open talks. They know winter approaches.