The immediate neighbors collected transit fees for Russian gas and oil. Ukraine itself collected transit fees for gas deliveries to Austria until very recently.
The Drushba pipeline through Poland was open at the same time that Sikorski congratulated the U.S. for blowing up Nord Stream. It remained open long after that. Both France and the U.S. were buying uranium from Russia until 2024. No complaints from Sikorski about that.
Nordstream was owned by Russia, Germany, France, and The Netherlands. There was a pipeline from the German terminal to Britain.
There are many hypocrites of the first order in the oil/gas game. In the context of this submission, it is appropriate to note that so called "far right" or "far left" parties are the only ones who point out facts like the above in public.
Voters notice this and blaming Russian interference is a very weak game that endangers the democracies in the EU.
> The immediate neighbors collected transit fees for Russian gas and oil. Ukraine itself collected transit fees for gas deliveries to Austria until very recently.
What else were they supposed to do? Block transit altogether and alienate their partners?
Some guy from Eastern Europe: "You don't know Russians. Let me tell you about my experience with them..."
Some guy from Western Europe: "LOL, I see you believe American propaganda completely uncritically."
The guy from EE: "What? No, I was telling you what happened to my family..."
The guy from WE: "Let's talk about how America sucks instead."
Seems to me that for many people Russia wasn't even a real country, just some boogeyman that American propaganda made up. Then they suddenly woke up, and now they are like "oh no, we must not escalate!". Guys, you don't even know that making concessions to Russia is the fastest way to escalate. (You didn't expect North Korean soldiers attacking a European country, did you? That's what you get for your non-escalation. There will be more.)
