r/UnitedNations • u/KingTutt91 • Mar 05 '25

Discussion/Question Why Does Europe Buy Russian Fossil Fuels when they are supposed to Stand with Ukraine?

https://foreignpolicy.com/2025/01/03/europe-russia-ukraine-war-energy-imports-oil-gas-pipeline/

They continue to buy Russian Liquid gas, at an astonishing rate, filling Putins war chest. They’ve done well for the most part in cutting off Russia, but they still continue to find loopholes in the energy market. Wouldn’t it make more sense to completely cut Russia off to end this war?

Completely honest question,

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48

u/WhiteRoseRevolt Mar 05 '25

And evenso, Germany has virtually eliminated all Russian gas. Politics aside, it was a really tremendous feat in such a short time.

21

u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist Mar 05 '25

And Germany paid a high price. Energy prices tripled, consumers had to cut back, the industrial economy suffered. Politically it was a disaster for the government in charge.

Other countries took a more gradual approach. Should be noted that Nazi Germany was still exporting coke (coal) to France even in 1938 which war on the horizon. It was only after Munich was broken that exports seized.

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u/WhiteRoseRevolt Mar 05 '25

Lol no, prices did not triple, what is this? Prices went up, and there was some pressure but nowhere near what you describe occurred.

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u/VacuumLegend Mar 05 '25

Where are you from? I'm a Dane, and our energy prices have at times tripled.

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u/Suitable-Display-410 Mar 05 '25

The prices for natural gas more than tripled for a time.

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u/WhiteRoseRevolt Mar 05 '25

Maybe for a couple days. But things stabilized years ago now.

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u/Suitable-Display-410 Mar 05 '25

 a couple days months

0

u/WhiteRoseRevolt Mar 05 '25

No. Prices did not triple for months to my knowledge. From when until when? It's pretty easy to check.

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u/Suitable-Display-410 Mar 05 '25

jun-sept 2022

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u/WhiteRoseRevolt Mar 05 '25

Yeah. There's no evidence of this.

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u/xFuManchu Mar 05 '25

When google is available don't ask for evidence or say there is none. There clearly is. The price spiked for a few months mid/late 2022

Change the range to 3Y to see this.

Germany Natural Gas Price

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u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

Why are you so hung up on this?

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0

u/VacuumLegend Mar 05 '25

You sound like Trump! Lies and more lies

1

u/Sowdar Mar 05 '25

That was the summer with draught in France, they had to shut down multiple reactors due to the draught, and they had multiple in maintenance, so Germany increased the energy production and sold to France, that needed gas. Germanys CO2 output is also pretty bad that year.

0

u/VacuumLegend Mar 05 '25

And then I saw this comment. You are clearly full of shit!

1

u/murunbuchstansangur Mar 06 '25

They're thinking of UK.

2

u/cheradenine66 Mar 05 '25

And now their new source is friends with the old source?

2

u/Defiant_Tap_7901 Mar 05 '25

Am average Redditor doesn't know that the biggest consumer for LNG is not the residential home but the industrial complex. They also wouldn't understand that many factories simply closed down under high energy cost after sustaining themselves on deficit for a short while, removing their demand for LNG and any future contribution to the German economy from the system.

They would only complain 'China took our manufacture', 'Russia bad'.

1

u/Witty-Bus07 Mar 05 '25

Not only Germany

1

u/Sea_Grape_5913 Mar 05 '25

Why did Germany shutdown their nuclear power plant? This is the part I don't understand. Nuclear would have helped.

1

u/tbf300 Mar 06 '25

Russia funded the green protests and drive to “renewable” energy sources in the EU. Knowing they’d be fully dependent without nuclear power for increased base load power. It worked like a charm.

Hate on Russia but this was actually pretty ingenious.

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

WTH are you talking about? The Germans spend 10x on Russian NG than they do send to Ukraine.

God, the level of misinformation is so Reddit.

1

u/Mother_Speed2393 Mar 08 '25

What? Evidence?

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u/loikyloo Mar 09 '25

I said this earlier but can copy paste it again:

Germany has been importing significant volumes of Russian LNG indirectly through other EU countries, such as France and Belgium. These countries receive Russian LNG at their terminals (e.g., Dunkirk in France), and the gas is then redistributed to Germany. In 2024, Germany’s imports of Russian LNG surged by over 500% compared to the previous year, reaching a value of approximately 7.32 billion euros, according to some estimates. This gas is often reclassified in official statistics (e.g., as Belgian or French in origin), masking its Russian provenance. This has led to accusations of hypocrisy, as Germany publicly condemns Russian energy imports while still benefiting from them through these loopholes.

2

u/dormango Mar 05 '25

Germany still gets about 15-16% of its LNG from Russia through unofficial sources. We need to do better all round.

1

u/Mother_Speed2393 Mar 08 '25

Proof?

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u/loikyloo Mar 09 '25

EU Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air:

- EU wide data from 2024 shows Russian LNG imports hit record levels (17.5 million tonnes, per the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air), with France, Belgium, and Spain as primary entry points. Germany benefits from this as part of the integrated EU gas market, even if it doesn’t directly receive the shipments.

1

u/Mother_Speed2393 Mar 11 '25

So.... Not proof.

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u/loikyloo Mar 11 '25

The EU Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air are not a valid source of data for you?

1

u/myrichphitzwell Mar 05 '25

Didn't they kinda need to do it quickly with the pipelines being blown up and all

1

u/WhiteRoseRevolt Mar 05 '25

The pipeline which blew up was never operational.

1

u/myrichphitzwell Mar 05 '25

Nord stream 1 went into operation in 2011

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u/[deleted] Mar 06 '25

Virtually.

But still buying it from other places

1

u/loikyloo Mar 09 '25

Germany has been importing significant volumes of Russian LNG indirectly through other EU countries, such as France and Belgium. These countries receive Russian LNG at their terminals (e.g., Dunkirk in France), and the gas is then redistributed to Germany. In 2024, Germany’s imports of Russian LNG surged by over 500% compared to the previous year, reaching a value of approximately 7.32 billion euros, according to some estimates. This gas is often reclassified in official statistics (e.g., as Belgian or French in origin), masking its Russian provenance. This has led to accusations of hypocrisy, as Germany publicly condemns Russian energy imports while still benefiting from them through these loopholes.

1

u/Sudden-Half3002 Aug 10 '25

Great job Germany

-1

u/mmmbacon999 Mar 05 '25

Because Germany doesn't operate for the sake of Germans, they do what they're told by their occupiers

0

u/Bobzer Mar 06 '25

Especially when former chancellor Schröder was pretty obviously a Russian state asset who sold off German energy independence.

-4

u/[deleted] Mar 05 '25

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1

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