There’s a confusing editorial today in the Boston Globe, which draws heavily on the assumption that it is up to President-elect Barack Obama to draw up a plan to intervene in the Russia-Ukraine natural gas supply disputes, and that the key thing for him to do is withdraws support from any talks between NATO and Kiev in order to guarantee secure energy supply to Europe.

Wait a moment – I thought that we were meant to understand that Gazprom’s threat of supply cuts was a purely commercial dispute, focused on weaning the Ukraine off their Soviet era subsidies and asking them to pay something closer to market rates like everyone else.  There is certainly a legitimate point held by the Russians on pricing, but one that has been pursued with very little skill or diplomacy.