Maeda asked:
I don't really want to derail this thread into one on energy, but there are claims that the US can replace Russia with gas from fracking to supply Europe. Do calculations actually bear out? (If this has been discussed before, link(s) to relevant thread(s) is/are appreciated)
I thought Firn (our resident economics guru) had posted on this, but a search found fracking has been mentioned - though not an answer to your question.

What I have read elsewhere suggests that there is no capacity in the USA to export such amounts as Europe would require, nor the capacity to bring it ashore either.

There are threads on Energy Security and the economic aspects of the Ukrainian crisis, which have various posts on European reliance on Russian gas supplies.