DISINFO: A frozen future may await Europe amid energy war
SUMMARY
A frozen future may await Europe amid an energy war. Ukraine’s halt on the transit of Russian gas, combined with sanctions imposed by the US on Russian oil and gas companies, pose a significant risk of plunging Europe into a new energy crisis.
RESPONSE
Recurring pro-Kremlin disinformation narrative about Europe’s inescapable dependence on Russian energy. By painting an apocalyptic landscape, the goal of this disinformation story is to push the populations in the EU Member States to advocate for the removal of sanctions imposed on Russia as a result of its unprovoked invasion of Ukraine.
It is true that Ukraine’s decision to stop the transportation of Russian gas through its territory after the expiration of the previous transit deal, along with US sanctions imposed on Russian oil tankers on 10 January 2025, led to some rise in gas and oil prices. However, previous preparation and diversification of energy sources ensures that there will be no energy scarcity in Europe. In early January 2025, the European Commission confirmed that “storage levels at 72% are slightly higher than the average (69%) for this time of the year”. Additionally, even before the EU broke with Russian energy, 42% percent of the energy it consumed was produced domestically, a figure that has almost certainly grown since as the share of EU-produced renewable energies in Europe’s energy mix is steadily increasing.
See other examples of similar disinformation narratives, such as claims that Europe is committing energy suicide without Russia, that instead of crushing Russia, sanctions led to US debt and Europe’s freezing, that according to the Draghi report, the EU faces economic difficulties due to rejection of Russian energy, or that a potential ban on Russian LNG supplies would cost the EU one-fifth of imports.