Anadolu Agency quotes Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center Director John E. Herbst on how Putin’s use of Russia’s energy resources as a geopolitical weapon is severely damaging the Russian economy:
Speaking to Anadolu Agency, John Herbst, Director of the Atlantic Council’s Dinu Patriciu Eurasia Center and a Bush administration Ambassador to the Ukraine, said that Putin has pursued policies that are dangerous to his own country by using energy as a geopolitical weapon.
“It’s an amazing thing to remember that when it was still the Soviet Union, Moscow never used energy as a geopolitical weapon,” Herbst said, adding that “The Soviet Union never used its pipelines to pressure Europe.”
Herbst said that Putin has been using energy as a weapon since he came to power, which has forced the Europeans to look to diversify their gas supplies.