ABSTRACT
Until recently, Russia’s primary orientation was toward the West. Historically, Europe, linked to its eastern neighbor by oil and gas pipelines, was Russia’s main energy partner. During the 1990s and early 2000s, Russian oil and gas companies made sporadic efforts to diversify beyond Europe, but these efforts were one-off attempts that did not win the full support of the state, whose energy strategy was mainly focused on the European Union (EU).
