The war started February 2022. That is the reference point in this context of Russian energy warfare against EU and the west. It failed. The prices are at 1/3 of the price at that point and falling.
The gas price is absolutely the point, it was a huge part of the overall Russian strategy against the west and it failed.
The real issues are:
the loss of military superiority by the US and NATO, both in tech and numbers;
the rapid move away from the US dollar and western financial system by large parts of the world; and
the loss of respect for and trust in the US by large parts of the world caused by internal loss of core values (rule of law, democracy) and external failures.
None of that is tied into the war in Ukraine and same, even more so, can be said for Russia.
I do not see where you see a loss of military superiority of NATO and the USA. The facts show the complete opposite to be true.
- Nato rearming itself
- Nato is growing -Finland, Sweden (possibly)
- Single digit % of US military budget is helping Ukraine commit massive casualties to the Russian army.
The global superiority of NATO and US forces, after the fiasco in Afghanistan is recovering at high pace.
I wonder, is this something positive? Both NATO and US were quite the evil fiasco actors during their recent decades of warfare.
Again, how can one recognize (besides others) the covid betrayal, but then trust the same agents? I just can't wrap my head around that.
As a deterrent to Russian imperialism its a great thing. If NATO attempts another excursion in the middle east, that would then of course be bad.
You should never trust anyone fully. You look at situations and existing facts about what is going on and make your conclusions then.