Russia started off its year as G-8 president with a crisis over gas supplies to Ukraine, and even threatened Europe with rerouting its gas exports to Asia. Putin has placed energy security at the top of the summit’s agenda, but that does not mask Russia’s ambition to dominate European markets by controlling the pipelines that carry its oil and gas, the refineries that process it, and the retail outlets that sell it.
但是，西方能够保持超脱吗？俄罗斯作为今年的八国集团主席国新年伊始就制造了输送给乌克兰的天然气危机，而且甚至威胁欧洲说将其天然气出口转向亚洲。普京把能源安全问题列为本次峰会议程的首要问题，但是这并不掩盖俄罗斯通过控制运送其石油和天然气的管道、加工炼油厂以及出售它们的零售网点而操纵欧洲市场的野心。