European leaders, while calling Ukraine’s May 25 presidential election a success, are still facing a deeper dilemma: how to free their countries from an addiction to Russian energy. Pro-European billionaire Petro Poroshenko’s victory has relieved the immediate pressure on the U.S. and the European Union to impose tougher sanctions against Russia. “The successful holding of these elections constitutes a major step towards the objective of de-escalating tensions and restoring security for all Ukrainians,” European Commission President Jose Barrosoand EU President Herman Van Rompuy said in a joint statement yesterday. The European and American reluctance to escalate in the wake of an election that was at least a partial success, a U.S. official said yesterday, suggests that by finally tempering his actions and rhetoric, Russian President Vladimir Putin may have achieved much of what he sought in Ukraine. Russia’s ever-changing mix of covert action, economic threats and the annexation of […]