A “real embargo” Russian gas from the West may be the only way to stop the war in Ukraine. He is convinced of that Andrei Ilarionovformer economic advisor of Wladimir Putin. “If Western countries try to impose a real embargo on oil and gas exports from Russia,” he said, “I will bet that within a month or two, Russian hostilities in Ukraine will likely end.”
“It’s one of the very effective tools that Western countries still have at their disposal,” added Illarionov, who is also convinced that Moscow is currently not taking Western threats to reduce or even eliminate its dependence on Russia seriously natural gas and energy. “The sanctions have started to work, but the time has not yet come to see the impact. Sanctions are not enough,” said Putin’s former adviser.
According to Illarionov, the Russian President has not yet completed his war design: “In the short term, Putin wants to take Ukraine and then he could point to Moldova via Transnistria, then to Georgia and again to the Baltic countries. According to these plans, it could then move on to Europe.” With a very clear final plan: go back in time and restore the spheres of influence that existed in Soviet times.
