Natural gas flares at the compressor station of the Nord Stream 1 pipeline on the Finnish border and in Russia's far north on the Yamal Peninsula and elsewhere have these days become a symbol of the suicidal insanity of Moscow politics. Vladimir Putin prefers to burn the natural gas instead of delivering it to Germany and Western Europe. Political fun costs at least 13 million euros a day – not to mention the severe ecological consequences. Putin still firmly believes in bringing the EU states to their knees with the energy weapon and thus turning the war in Ukraine around. In the long term, however, the dictator is torching the economic future of his country.

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