So, why did this hold for so long into the war? I’m sure it’s for a good reason that I don’t know about, it’s just hard to understand. Is it because the European Union needed time for other sources?
There was an existing contract in place. Ukraine didn’t unilaterally cancel it, they just let it lapse. With the exception of Putin lapdogs Hungary, Slovakia, and Transnistria everybody else already cut reliance on Russian gas.
That makes sense. TBF, I thought Russia did this last invasion much sooner than the contract (2019) for some reason:
In February 2022, Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine and began occupying more of the country, starting the biggest conflict in Europe since World War II. The war has resulted in a refugee crisis and tens of thousands of deaths. Source
You’re probably thinking of the Crimea annexation in 2014, which was more or less the first wave of the ongoing efforts by Russia, though the history between the two countries goes way back.
But why not void it earlier on? What’s the worst they could do? Invade?
It’s twofold:
Reason 1 - taking the moral high ground, as well as being seen trustworthy, since they are honoring the contract
Reason 2 - there is a lot of money involved that they would probably need to pay back in addition to penalties for not honoring the contract.
Reason 2 is likely the bigger issue, since they needed the money, which was already planned into the budget.
