By redirecting its decoupling from Russian hydrocarbons toward the United States, Europe handed Washington a new source of lucrative leverage that is now increasingly exploited. The EU’s decoupling from Russian hydrocarbons following Moscow’s 2022 aggression against Ukraine was, in itself, a strategic success. It largely broke Europe’s long-standing susceptibility to Russian energy blackmail and pressure, while cutting off a multi-billion-euro revenue stream for the Kremlin’s war machine. Four