Europe leaps towards energy autonomy as sanctions undercut Russia

Russia has sought to weaken the EU and NATO unity by cutting off flows of natural gas [File: Nigel Roddis/Reuters]

Before its invasion of Ukraine, Russia was Europe’s chief energy source.

It supplied 29 percent of the European Union’s oil imports and 43 percent of its gas imports. Moscow was on the cusp of activating the twin Nordstream 2 pipelines, which would have increased its gas exports to the EU by a third.