Alexey Navalny calls out world leaders who 'hypocritically' benefited from Russian energy as Putin's 'grip on power grew stronger'

• Navalny criticized world leaders who benefited from Russian gas and oil as Putin cemented his grip on power.
• EU countries have faced rising pressure to stop purchasing Russian energy since the Ukraine war began.

Russian President Vladimir Putin reminds the world that "dictatorship always leads to war," imprisoned Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny wrote in Time.

"Perhaps Vladimir Putin's true mission is to teach lessons. To everyone — from world leaders and pundits to ordinary people. He has been especially good at this in 2022," Navalny said of the Russian leader, who was on Time's 100 most influential people of 2022 list.

"He reminded us once again that a path that begins with 'just a little election rigging' always ends with a dictatorship," Navalny said, adding, "It's a lesson we shouldn't have forgotten."

Along those lines, Navalny called out world leaders who "hypocritically talked for years about a 'pragmatic approach' and the benefits of international trade" in terms of their interactions with Putin.

"In so doing, they enabled themselves to benefit from Russian oil and gas while Putin's grip on power grew stronger. Between sanctions and military and economic aid, this war will cost hundreds of times more than those lucrative oil and gas contracts, the signing of which used to be celebrated with champagne," Navalny said.

In the first two months following the onset of its unprovoked war in Ukraine, Russia exported $66 billion in fossil fuels, per a recent report from the Centre of Research on Energy and Clean Air. Russia supplies approximately 40% of Europe's natural gas imports, plus roughly 27% of its oil imports. Accordingly, EU leaders have faced criticism over Europe's ongoing reliance on Russian oil and gas as the war in Ukraine rages on. Russia supplies approximately 40% of Europe's natural gas imports, plus roughly 27% of its oil imports.

As Europe moves to relinquish its reliance on Russian energy in the face of mounting international pressure, former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder last week resigned from the Russian state-owned oil company Rosneft.

Navalny, who is Putin's most prominent critic and has worked for years to expose corruption in and around the Kremlin, is being held in a Russian penal colony on charges widely decried as politically motivated.

In August 2020, Navalny was poisoned with the Soviet era nerve agent Novichok in Siberia. The poisoning, which Navalny and leaders across the world blamed on Putin, nearly killed him. The Russian leader denied involvement in the incident.

After receiving treatment in Germany for several months following the poisoning, Navalny returned to Russia in early 2021 and was promptly arrested. He was charged with violating the terms of his parole — including while receiving treatment abroad — over a 2014 embezzlement conviction. Navalny's imprisonment led to mass protests in Russia.

The top Kremlin critic and anti-corruption campaigner has continued to communicate with the outside world via his lawyers from prison, and has called for Russians to vehemently oppose the war in Ukraine.

Navalny in Time described Putin as a "madman capable of causing a bloodbath in the center of Europe in the 21st century" who world leaders "really shouldn't embrace him at international forums." He decried Putin for squashing opposition to his rule by effectively destroying independent media in Russia and organizing "political assassinations."

But the main question Putin presents to the world is "how to stop an evil madman with an army, nuclear weapons, and membership in the UN Security Council," Navalny said, adding, "And we are the ones who must find that answer."

Indeed, Russia's war in Ukraine has raised myriad questions about the framework and longevity of international institutions like the UN, where Moscow and other great powers have consistently wielded significant influence despite flouting international norms. That said, Russia was condemned in the UN over its Ukraine invasion, and suspended from the UN Human Rights Council. But Russia also remains one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, and retains veto power in that capacity.