I’m more than happy to pay more for energy if that’s the price of peace

This is not going to buy peace.

It won’t. But it might make them sell it cheaper somewhere else, resulting in lower spend on the army. Also, think of all Russian businesses loosing money. Their owners will be pushing the government to fix the situation. At the end of the day, money is power, you don’t want to loose it.

If money is power it didn't help Jack Ma. Looking at this situation through a western political lense is not going to offer insights.

Putin has a firm grip on power within Russia, I don't see this move changing that calculus. It only will escalate the situation.

Western lenses doesn’t help, that’s a fair point.

Ma’s case is not a good example though. The guy was alone and his empire didn’t vanish, just changed ownership.

I’m not an expert on Russia, but I’m sure that they’re not self sufficient and that to be able to trade with anybody, they’ll need to exchange their currency. Alone, they might end up like Jack Ma

Good, escalation is the only option. The people of Kyiv are dying.

Escalation with a nuclear super power is not something to be done lightly. Leaving war as the only option on the table is a very bad idea.

This is likely to end poorly for the entire world.

Yep, really terrible that Russia put the world in this position.

Paying more for energy means your economy gets rekt too. It's hilarious people think only the seller's will be hurt, the buyer's will be hurt too. It's a two way street.

Not to mention the political upheaval you'll see. High energy prices, especially gas prices, are highly correlated with election results - especially here in the US. It's why Trump and everyone before him was so desperate to keep gas prices low.