The emergency is imminent.
If neither Russia nor the EU change their positions by Friday, Vladimir Putin could stop natural gas supplies to the West as early as the weekend.
Paying for energy commodities in rubles from April 1, as desired by the Kremlin, would be easy for buyers in Germany.
Nevertheless, it is true that the EU and Germany are not making any concessions to the warlord in the Kremlin.
First, Putin would certainly soon be holding out the next stick to jump over.
Secondly, it does not mean that Putin will not turn on the gas tap as soon as he wants to.
Instead of being led around the arena by the nose ring as before the war broke out, the West must now pay a high price to deprive Putin of his most important source of income and to maximize the pressure on him.
How high the price will be for Germany can only be roughly estimated.
The attempt to force Putin to give in and finally put an end to the immeasurable suffering in Ukraine should be worth it to Germany.