The European Union and the United States recognize that there are ways they could play constructive roles in resolving the Ukraine crisis. But some of the suggestions revolving around natural gas and oil being floated suggest a profound misunderstanding of the politics, economics and geography of energy in the region. The notion that Europe and Ukraine could somehow become independent of Russian energy resources is utterly unrealistic.
Russia is a resource economy, a Saudi Arabia with lots of imperial baggage. President Vladimir Putin is well aware that without gas and oil sales, there are no monthly payments to his nation's pensioners, there are no continued investments in infrastructure along the lines of what we saw in Sochi. He also knows that Europeans are not willing to risk economic ruin by using their considerable imports of Russian energy as a negotiating tool in resolving this crisis. Talking about energy with a unified voice has never been a strong suit in Europe, but it is now clear that Europe does have leverage and can use its considerable codependence with Russia.
The EU has made clear to Putin that the South Stream gas pipeline he is ramming through the Black Sea en route to the EU, bypassing Ukraine, is off the table until the crisis has been resolved. This gesture sends an important message that Europe strongly disapproves of Russia's behavior in Ukraine. However, the underlying reality is that relations between Europe and Russia will be deeply intertwined well into the future. Some recent news coverage suggests that Europe and Ukraine have a future without Russian energy resources. This is a myth.
http://www.latimes.com/opinion/commentary/la-oe-johnson-ukraine-gas-oil-20140314,0,3442374.story
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