If the wrangle with Ukraine was designed to make the case for more direct gas sales and transit between Russia and the EU, the plan has partly backfired. A chorus of European leaders believe that the big freeze of 2009 makes the case stronger for sourcing gas from farther afield – the Caspian and South Caucusus countries of Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and, eventually, Iraq.

Russia’s row with Ukraine has flared as key dates approach for decisions on final approval for work on Nord Stream, the first pipeline to carry Russian gas directly into the heart of Europe.

Gazprom is also trying to build the South Stream pipeline to bypass Ukraine by routing gas under the Black Sea to the EU via Bulgaria, again hampered by environmental and financial concerns.

That may remove Russia’s squabbles with Ukraine from the equation but will give Russia increasing control over Europe’s energy future. Critics fear that it could turn much of Europe into vassel states under a Kremlin energy umbrella. The alternatives are limited. Buying more from unstable regimes in North Africa and the Middle East is one. The other is the proposed Nabucco pipeline, owned by energy companies in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Germany and Austria, which will avoid Ukraine and Russia by running from Azerbaijan through Turkey to Vienna.

But it lacks funding and faces other huge pressures – such as Gazprom’s offer to buy all of Azerbaijan’s gas and Turkmenistan’s decision to ship much of its gas east through a new pipe to China.

Russia also has some powerful voices on its side.

Gerhard Schröder, the former German Chancellor, reportedly paid €1 million (£855,000) a year by Gazprom, was seen on television this week in discussions with his friend, Vladimir Putin, the Russian Prime Minister, extolling the virtues of Nord Stream, which will bring gas under the Baltic from St Petersburg to Berlin.

As Mr Schröder relaxed in a Kremlin armchair, Mr Putin told him: “The current situation only makes even more relevant our plans for a gas pipeline system along the bottom of the Baltic Sea.”

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