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Russia: Western Europeans fume at Putin’s use of energy as a political weapon | Priya Abraham

Druzhba means "friendship" in Russian, and the word is also the now-ironic title of the oil pipeline that runs from Russia through estranged ally Belarus. It is the same one Moscow shut down for three days this month in an energy feud with Minsk.

Energy feuds are becoming a New Year's ritual in Europe, which first suffered a natural gas supply disruption through Ukraine last year at this time. For Russia, the calculations are both political and economic: As the region's main energy supplier, it can bring its neighbors to heel and maintain its oil and gas industries. On the other end of the pipeline, however, European leaders—led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel—now realize they rely too much on a capricious Russia for energy.