We don't think of Russia as a petro state in the same category as, say, Saudi Arabia. But we should: Russia is the world's biggest exporter of natural gas, and the second-biggest exporter of oil.
This is worth pointing out at the moment, given the talk of sanctions against Russia in response to the situation in Ukraine.
EU countries are major buyers of Russian oil and gas. And, as NPR's Krishnadev Calamur points out today, that means they may not be eager to impose sanctions on Russia.
And this isn't just a problem for Europe either. As the AP reports:
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