A new draft Energy Security Doctrine says Western sanctions and green energy are Russia's top threats

Russia hasn’t updated its “Energy Security Doctrine” since 2012 — two years before Moscow annexed Crimea, which sparked an array of Western economic sanctions. Now the Energy Ministry has drafted a new doctrine, and the United States appears front and center as the greatest threat to Russia’s energy security.

According to the draft doctrine, U.S.-led sanctions have imposed restrictions on Russian oil and gas companies’ access to modern technologies and equipment, as well as limitations on these companies’ ability to attract foreign capital.

The draft doctrine warns that Russian companies could fall so far behind in science and technology that they’ll become uncompetitive globally.

So the only problem is Western sanctions? No. 

Russia’s draft Energy Security Doctrine also identifies “decarbonization” and the rise of green energy as a major threat. The Russian state budget continues to rely on the oil and gas industry for roughly half its tax revenues, but global demand for these products is slowing in favor of renewable energy sources, the biggest providers of which are projected to be India and China. Russia also faces increased liquified natural gas production and the depletion of its own mineral resources.