full—scale invasion on ukraine back in february of 2022 sparked a seismic shock in global energy markets. prices spiked immediately, and this was felt nowhere more than in europe. for years, russian oil — and particularly gas — had kept that continent running, and that came to a screeching halt as a flotilla of sanctions all descended on russia from europe, the uk, and north america — targeting notjust the supply of oil and gas, but also how russia took payment, and even the insurance on its boats of fuel that were still being shipped to countries like, well, like india and china — countries which have maintained their ties with moscow and have taken advantage of the cheaper energy they're now receiving. then, a few months later, as autumn approached in europe, every single government, including here in the uk, announced measures to help their people deal with the bigger energy bills that were due to hit the doormats all across the continent. the world watched as europe raced to fill its storage capacity for winter. mysterious holes appeared in key pipelines. energy diplomacy was the name of the game.