Comments by "Paul Aiello" (@paul1979uk2000) on "" video.

  1. I find it amusing how this is suddenly EU stupidity when this was done at a national level and not EU level, in fact the video even clearly pointed that out by showing each member and it's level of dependence on Russian energy. Beside, lets be blunt about this, most countries trade the most with near by countries, regardless of trust with them and all because it usually makes economic sense to do so then buying halfway around the world unless cheap labour is involved. The truth is, the west has been stupid when it comes to Putin, from Trump close connections to Putin, Brexit in the UK and the links to Russian money and to the popularize movements around the EU which a lot suspect was finance by Russian money, basically, the idea was to weaken the west and get us fighting among ourselves and Putin was highly successful on that but his biggest success came about with Brexit in the UK, all the other things did limited damage that can be repaired, Brexit is longer term damage that will hit the UK for decades. In any case, it's high time the rich countries stop financing this crack pot leaders, whether that be Russia, China, Turkey and many others, they are a lot weaker without our money.
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  2.  @uf_6395  Simply really, if the entire EU does it, Poland will expect the EU and richer members to bail them out whereas if Poland does it on it's own, well they are on their own and cutting out that much dependence isn't easy, more so for Poland than it is for Germany. The realistic solution is to keep buying from Russia whiles reducing it as aggressively as possible, a lot can be done in a short space of time of just a few short years when there is enough political will to do it like we have now because now energy has become a security issue. The only alternative I can see in speeding this up is if the west works together to help fill that void in the EU market, that's doable if oil and gas producers ramp up production and they would stand to profit a lot from this at Russia's expense but until there is a secure means of getting alternative energy for the EU market, it's unrealistic to cut that out just yet.
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  3.  @rafail2303  To a degree yeah but if prices rise too high, European countries would speed up the process in looking elseware for it's energy means, the high prices and energy security is already speeding up that process, the last thing Russia can afford to do is play games with it's energy, otherwise it's going to kill off that industry in Russia. So yeah, the EU could do as Krpi said but I doubt they will, I suspect they will keep things stable and as they are now whiles actively looking for alternative energy sources, a lot can be achieved in just a few short years.
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  4.  @rafail2303  It really depends, short term it would be painful, not just for Europeans but for the world as EU countries would scramble the world to find alternatives and fast, that would likely bump up the price in the short term on the world market and because of that, almost everyone around the world would end up paying more for it, in the end, it's the poor and middle classes of the world that would get hit by that. Also, it's being said that EU countries seem to have enough energy to fill the void if Russia did switch off the tap by switching on coal, nuke and other plants that were planned to be phased out, apparently they are on standby just in case but they really don't want to bring them on because they pollute a lot more. I think the smart move is more or less what the EU countries are doing, rapidly accelerate it's renewable drive, find alternative energy sources on the world market to plug that gap, within a matter of just a few short years, they could become more or less independence of Russia oil, gas and coal and with each passing month, it's going to be doing more and more harm to Russia as they buy less from them. Out of all this, there is some good news, EU countries are going to rapidly boost it's renewable energy drive, because of Putin, we could be ending up in a cleaner future a lot sooner than expected and all because energy has become a security risk, now we have the political and public motivation to make it happen, also, we're likely going to see more integration at an EU level among the EU countries on security, military and energy matters which will likely mean bigger military spending whiles reducing a lot of the duplications we have among 27 countries. Macron was proven right that EU countries need to band together and that should be good news for the US because a stronger EU would be a lot more useful when it comes to China.
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  5.  @Electronite1978  Not just the EU countries but even the US and UK, we've seen for the last decade or so the games Putin was willing to play and yet the west was too soft on him, there is a lot of blame to go around, from the UK with all that Russian money going into London and very likely with a lot of connections to powerful people in government, to many EU countries that have become too dependent on Russian energy and to the US for not having a tougher line with Russia with all the interference Putin has been doing from Trump, Brexit and likely other populist movements around Europe. The truth is, we've been at war with Putin for well over a decade now but we was all asleep to that reality, basically, none of us in the west wanted to see that until it blasted us in the face with what's going on in Ukraine, so yeah, there is a lot of blame to go around but now isn't the time, we need unity not division. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how the west changes now, especially the EU and US with it's dealings with the likes of China because the truth is, we rich countries are the ones that are funding these crack pots, pull the money away from them and look for alternative more reliable sources and these countries will become a lot weaker unless they change.
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  6.  @fakedoorsfordinner1677  Coal could be used as a stop gap measure, I know it's not a popular option with how dirty it is but when it comes to energy security, you have to do what you have to do, in the end, it would only be for a few short years to keep things running, so yeah, I don't really see any real threat to the EU economy from Russia and it's natural resources but it's best to make it seem like it's a big threat as that will make it easier to go to alternative energy sources a lot sooner than we expected, the irony being, the Europeans in the EU could be the lucky ones here because now they have to make big changes on the energy market, so a bit of short term pain but a lot of big gains ahead of the rest of the world, that's what happens when something becomes a threat.
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  7.  @dinamosflams  That takes way too long and isn't really the solution, I think a mix of ramping up renewable energy a lot whiles filling the void by buying oil and gas on the world market is the best solution, also more work on the interconnect grid in the EU so it's much easier to shift electricity around the union.
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  8.  @fakedoorsfordinner1677  I think a mixture of renewable and battery tech could fill much of the energy gap but that's longer term goal, in the short term buying alternative on the world market or even restarting a lot of the energy sources the EU already has like coal will have to do.
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  9.  @dinamosflams  That would be the case for gas from other countries, after all, gas from Russia or the US is more or less the same thing in green terms.
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  10. It's pretty much already happening, Russia is being cut out when it comes to oil, gas and likely coal as well but we have to be realistic, at least in case of the EU countries, they can't cut that out overnight because of how exposed they are but they could do it in a matter of a few short years, the only way I can see it being done quicker is if there was a coordinated response from the west to fill that void with energy the EU countries will need replacing from Russia, that could speed up the process a lot. The EU is the key to sending a powerful message to Russia, if they cut out all the energy they buy from Russia, that would hit Russia pretty hard, on top of that, with Putin playing games with this kind of resources, it's unlikely going to find many takers to want to buy that resource, at least not the ones as rich as EU countries are so even if Russia does sell to others, they'll likely have to sell at a much lower price, because energy is now a security issue, EU countries are likely going to reduce the amount of oil, gas, coal and other natural resources it buys from Russia so as time goes on, it's going to hit Russia pretty hard but as I said, that will take time but when there is a will, a lot can happen in a short space of time but unfortunately, with EU countries actively looking on the world market for this resources, it's likely going to push up the cost for everyone else around the world, so it's going to hurt a lot of people around the world, especially from poorer countries unless other countries ramp up the production of oil and gas they produce, something it would be wise to do because now the EU is on the war path, they are likely going to go out of their way to kill fossil fuels on security reasons, in other words, the renewable industry as well as other alternative energy sources have got a massive shot in the arm thanks to Putin that might speed up the process to clean energy a lot sooner than expected. Either way, Russia is screwed here thanks to Putin, whatever happens in Ukraine now, the trust has been broken and EU countries as well as lot of the world will be actively looking to find alternatives to Russia's natural resources, that's very likely going to push renewable energy through the roof in EU countries over the next decade. As for Russia, I'm not sure what they can do, if they back down, they lose, if they continue fighting, they lose, if they try to get too close to China, they lose by being a vassal of them, Putin has put Russia in a very uncomfortable position that likely going to be painful for them for at least a decade and maybe even much longer than that, also by braking trust, Russia is going to find it hard to get foreign investment in the country, I don't think the Russian people realize how bad the situation is likely to come.
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  11.  @TheRezro  We'll have to wait and see but isn't Poland even more dependent on Russia than Germany is? I'm not saying change can't be done quickly, it's just a matter of how much of an hit you are willing to take and even if it's needed. Truth is, almost every EU country is going to reduce the buying of oil, gas and coal from Russia, in just 3 years, it should become very little to not actually matter any more, maybe even sooner than that if they really want to send a powerful message to Putin, either way, EU countries are moving. The good news is in all this, renewable and clean energy sources are going to get a massive shot in the arm thanks to Putin, we are probably going to progress more in that area over the next decade that would normally take decades, especially in Europe because now energy has become a security matter. Basically, now the EU countries are going to actively go out of their way to kill the fossil industry and they have the wealth and tech to do it, so yes, a bit of short term pain for a lot of long term gains that if the fossil industry is smart, they would try to sell as much to the EU market at a reasonable price point before it's too late and they won't want any of that.
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