Today America, the EU and UK will collectively purchase £200 million of fuel from the Russian state-owned Gazprom, in addition to £300 million of oil. After the invasion began, exports of fuel via Ukraine — the route of the important thing pipelines to the remainder of Europe — elevated, leaping 38 per cent in a single day. The fuel worth, already at a report excessive, soared.

A lot for sanctions. Certainly solely final month Sir Dieter Helm, power economist at Oxford College, predicted this worth rise would imply Russia’s revenue would improve when Putin attacked. “Invading Ukraine may very well be self-financing,” he wrote.

Western leaders could bluster that they’re making life economically more durable for Putin, however the chilly reality is that many are so reliant on his fuel