Bucha escalates Putin’s risks – WSJ

If Vladimir Putin hears the early retirement angel’s wings flapping around his head again, it’s because oil and gas sanctions are back on the table following evidence of the mass murder of civilians in the Kiev suburb of Bucha.

French President Emmanuel Macron has called for a ban on Russian sales of oil and coal if gas is not yet dependent on Germany. The US could up the ante with secondary sanctions against Chinese and Indian companies that take advantage of deep discounts on Russian oil shipments. Germany’s Olaf Scholz is increasingly irritated by bank and think tank modelers suggesting that a hard freeze on gas imports might be doable after all.