Europe’s winter of discontent is just getting started as energy prices continue to rise. Though Putin has insisted that Russia is not using energy as a political weapon, many EU leaders disagree. Russia has a history of limiting or outright cutting the supply of energy to political rivals in Europe. In characteristically blunt fashion, Russian President Vladimir Putin had this to say when asked last month if Russia was again using its energy resources as a political weapon: “This is complete nonsense, ravings, and politically motivated blather,” he told a Moscow energy conference on October 13. Two weeks later, the European Union’s foreign policy chief was uncharacteristically blunt as he described Russia’s threat to cut gas supplies to Moldova, a decision that prompted the cash-strapped, aspiring EU member to declare a state of emergency: “the weaponization of gas supplies.” With natural-gas prices hitting record highs, Europe’s winter of discontent […]