Russia’s war against Ukraine and the Kremlin’s energy blackmail of all of Europe have forced many EU countries and their partners to begin a painful but vital refusal of Russian fuel. The states of the Northwestern Black Sea region – Moldova, Romania and Ukraine – have different histories and volumes of trade relations with Moscow in this area. However, they, being on the direct line of confrontation with Russia or in the sphere of geopolitical interests of the Kremlin, do understand the true price of Russian energy the best. The steps by Bucharest, Chisinau, and Kyiv to cut fuel and power ties with Moscow can not only improve the security of their states but also strengthen the resilience of the entire region.

Sergiy Gerasymchuk Mykhailo Drapak Policy Brief

This policy brief is developed within the project “Romanian – Ukrainian Civil Society Forum for Dialogue and Cooperation. Third edition”, implemented by the Experts for Security and Global Affairs Association, Romania, in partnership with Strategic and Security Studies Group and Foreign Policy Council “Ukrainian PRISM”, Ukraine, with the support of Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation, a project of the German Marshall Fund. The views expressed in this policy paper are those of the author and do not necessarily coincide with those of ESGA partners.