Russia’s trade surplus has continued to grow, even in the wake of Western sanctions. It’s now forecast to be double what it was last year. That’s prompted an acknowledgement among Western countries that more needs to be done to squeeze the country economically. Recently, the G7 announced plans to completely wean itself off of Russian oil; the European Union is trying to follow suit. But that still leaves a gigantic loophole: natural gas.

In this week’s episode, host Mike Bird goes back to a key point in the 1970s to find out how Germany, Europe’s largest economy, became so reliant on Russian gas. Our European economics editor Christian Odendahl and our Berlin bureau chief Vendeline Von Bredow examine the geopolitical fallout from Germany’s misguided energy policy. And Georg Zachmann of the Bruegel Institute explains why liquified natural gas could potentially be part of the short-term solution.

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