Europe’s soaring gas prices: does Russia hold solution to crisis?

Some believe Kremlin sees gas prices as chance for Gazprom to pressure west to speed up Nord Stream 2 approval

The natural gas market has entered uncharted territory. The movements in the price of gas on Wednesday had been, in the words of one analyst, unprecedented since the year dot of gas liberalisation in Europe". In record swings, Dutch wholesale gas, a European benchmark, soared by 30% within one period of three or four hours from an already eye-watering level.

These are chilling numbers for European governments with winter stretching ahead, and when the EU sneezes, the UK, heavily reliant on imports from across the Channel, also catches a cold.