Putin gas cutoff shakes up Europe at little cost to Kremlin


              A view of the business tower Lakhta Centre, the headquarters of Russian gas monopoly Gazprom in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, April 27, 2022, with a private house in the foreground. Polish and Bulgarian leaders have accused Russia of using gas supplies to blackmail their countries. The accusations come after the Russian energy Giant abruptly told them on Tuesday that it would cut off gas to the two European nations on Wednesday for refusing to pay for their supplies in rubles. (AP Photo/Dmitri Lovetsky)
            
              Russian President Vladimir Putin gestures while addresses a meeting of the Council of Legislators under the Russian Federal Assembly at the Tauride Palace, in St. Petersburg, Russia, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. (Alexander Demyanchuk, Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
            Containers labeled "BASF" stand on the site of the chemical company BASF in Ludwigshafen, Germany, Thursday, April 28, 2022. The company would be severely affected by a potential Russian gas supply stop. (Uwe Anspach/dpa via AP) 
              A view of a hardware of the Gaz-System's gas station in Rembelszczyzna, near Warsaw, Poland, Wednesday, April 27, 2022. Polish and Bulgarian leaders accused Moscow of using natural gas to blackmail their countries after Russia's state-controlled energy company stopped supplying the two European nations Wednesday. (AP Photo/Czarek Sokolowski)
            
              Imports of natural gas into Europe come from both pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG).