Despite the Kremlin’s desire to reassert influence over its neighbors, Russia’s economic leverage in Eastern Europe is declining. After more than a decade of using trade and energy cutoffs to pressure its neighbors to accept its political aims, the Kremlin’s tools of economic coercion are losing their effectiveness.
On the energy front, two factors are limiting Russia’s ability to use gas as a political bargaining chip. First, the decline in oil prices and the global glut in natural gas production has caused energy prices to fall across Europe. This weakens the appeal of Russian offers of cheaper gas in exchange …read more
Why Russia’s Economic Leverage is Declining
