Russia Won’t Cut Gas-Oil Flow to Europe, German Economists Say

Russia probably wouldn’t cut off gas and oil exports even if the European Union imposes sanctions aimed at the Russian economy, Germany’s leading economic research institutes said.

A “spiral” of sanctions in the conflict over Ukraine might lead Russia to halt gas and oil flows to European Union countries “in the worst case,” with a potentially “severe” impact on the EU, the institutes said in a report presented in Berlin today. Yet Russia’s dependence on energy exports is a restraint on President Vladimir Putin, the forecasters said.