France, the Netherlands, Spain and Belgium have been the main importers of Russian LNG in 2022, according to an analysis by energy market monitoring group Montel, with a third of Russian LNG shipments to Europe headed to France, and nearly a quarter to Spain.Unlike the majority Russian state-owned Gazprom, which has a monopoly on pipeline exports, Novatek is an independent company but has “shareholders [who] are close to the Kremlin, which can strongly influence its operations,” according to an analysis published by Columbia University’s Center on Global Energy Policy.Putin could potentially block exports to “unfriendly” countries while continuing to provide a gas lifeline to poorer states in Asia suffering severe energy shortages.Svitlana Romanko, director of Ukrainian campaign group Razom We Stand, which is pushing for a full EU embargo on Russian fossil fuels, said there was a clear moral case to drop Russian LNG imports.“Europe needs to take action now and stop this absurd and counterproductive funding of the Russian war machine.”This article is part of POLITICO ProThe one-stop-shop solution for policy professionals fusing the depth of POLITICO journalism with the power of technologyExclusive, breaking scoops and insightsCustomized policy intelligence platformA high-level public affairs network"