Energetic blackmail

Efforts to extort money to avoid another gas cut-off come to nothing

IN BLACKMAIL timing can be everything. The governments of Russia and Ukraine have cause to ponder this after failing to extract billions of euros from the

European

Union

in the name of keeping Russian gas flowing to Europe next winter.

Thanks to recession and competition from cheaper suppliers, European demand for Russian gas has fallen. It is also summer. So right now governments and gas companies are unusually brave over threats to cut off the gas. They have resisted pressure to give Ukraine a huge loan that both the Russians and Ukraine

In May Russia