On May 9th 1950, Robert Schuman gave his historic declaration calling for the creation of a European Coal and Steel Community. His political aim was crystal-clear: “make any war between France and Germany not only unthinkable, but also materially impossible”.

In 2022, the European Union cannot make war between Ukraine and Russia unthinkable. But it can make Putin’s war on Ukraine materially impossible. By cutting Russian fossil fuel exports, the EU will deprive Putin of the hundreds of billions of euros that he needs to sustain his war effort, thus pushing him to eventually cut the military budget and negotiate.

Thomas Pellerin-Carlin, Director of the Energy Centre at the Jacques Delors Institute and Senior Researcher on European Energy Policy, will discuss the EU’s room for manoeuvre to cut Russian energy supplies, the impact on the ongoing fossil fuel price crisis, and the consequences of such decision for the future of the European Green Deal.