Tribune. “Can Europe do without Russian gas? asked Le Monde yesterday. The real question is: “How can we still ask the question? For two weeks now, we have been witnessing a merciless war on our doorstep that has already resulted in thousands of deaths, tens of thousands of wounded and millions fleeing their devastated country.
Faced with this, we, the Europeans, members of NATO, declared that we, of course, cannot intervene militarily, that there can be no question of a war with Russia or even provoking it by preventing Russian aircraft from flying into the skies of Ukraine. This already poses a serious ethical and moral problem.
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Of course, we initiated financial sanctions, but they do not affect vital energy, because, as our economists and some of our leaders say, we cannot do without Russian gas and oil. So let’s ask ourselves a symmetrical question: why does Russia continue to supply us with this gas and this oil? Since we are punishing her so severely, shouldn’t she cut us off from these vital resources in retaliation?
Putin needs currency
The answer to this question is clear: Putin needs the currency of this trade to finance his dirty war, which is costing him dearly in arms and logistics costs. Obviously, by continuing to trade with Russia in this way, we are not only leaving Ukraine to its fate, but also effectively, cynically and objectively helping its executioner to torture it.
Yes, we need Russian gas, which also raises the question of the shortsightedness and past mistakes of countries that before this tragedy could not or did not want to ensure their energy independence. But the question is not the same. Hesitant about the oil and gas embargo, we tell the Ukrainians: we’re not going to risk dying for you, sending you soldiers or even protecting your skies, and in truth, we don’t even want to risk freezing next winter.
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Faced with the tragedy of history, we must, on the contrary, accept for ourselves, if not the blood that Churchill spoke of in 1940, then at least the tears of renunciation in relation to our comfort. Yes, by immediately turning off the Russian gas and oil tap (not thinking about it until the end of the year or even later), we will be colder, we will pay more for our gasoline, we will have to limit our movements and our travel, in a word, will suffer a little, but maybe we can look at each other with less shame.
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