Russia continues to rely on gas to exert pressure

Russia cut off gas deliveries to Ukraine for two days, March 3th and 4th, because Kiev had failed to pay earlier deliveries. Petra Procházková finds it significant that this cut in deliveries coincided with Russia's presidential elections. "It's naïve to expect Russia to show something like generosity towards former Soviet republics, even if their economic difficulties are a result of their having been Moscow's slaves in the past. What's more, Russia is using price hikes to punish those who have chosen a Western orientation, NATO and the EU, and are thus pulling away from its sphere of influence. Russia's blow against Ukraine is the first evidence that the Kremlin's foreign policy will continue unaltered after Vladimir Putin's departure."

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