Amazingly, Russian natural gas is still flowing to Europe across Ukraine as though there is no crisis in the country. It is anyone’s guess how long this will continue, though. About a half of all gas that flows to Europe from Russia goes through Ukraine, where there is a network of Soviet-era pipelines. And about a third of all gas used in Europe comes from Russia. Russian gas will eventually go to China, as well, but the requisite network of pipelines will take time to build. This winter has been mild, and a good amount of gas is still stored across Europe. In short, the present crisis is hardly a headache at the moment, but it will grow into one as the next winter approaches. But Europe will have to figure out pretty soon how to deal with Russian invasion of Ukraine. Switching to other gas suppliers is possible, but it would be both slow and costly. What is most worrisome about all this is that most of the European media seem to be oblivious about the gist of the crisis. And it is natural gas and nothing but natural gas. Instead, there is much talk about democracy, freedom, sovereignty, and the like. A sure sign that Europe has lost its grip.