The EU has grappled with the issue of curbing Russian energy purchases in recent weeks, as leaders try to find a way to stop funding the Kremlin’s war against Ukraine that does not hammer their voters with unaffordable utility bills.
Last week, prime ministers and presidents met in Brussels to try and broker an agreement on another round of Russia sanctions, most notably an oil embargo. But it did not all go to plan.
Hungary vetoed any chance of a full ban on imports, so pipeline oil will remain available for purchase. It means that the EU will cut around 90 per cent of trade instead of the full embargo that most leaders were seeking.
This fudge took weeks to cook up and makes the prospect of a gas ban even more implausible. Big players like Germany and Italy will not take that hit and it seems inevitable that Russia will continue to make big profits from its remaining customers.
For little Lithuania, up on the Baltic Sea’s eastern shoreline, none of...