> I bet most people are willing to suffer an energy crisis with the hope that it will stop earlier.

and yet, the war is not really contingent on people suffering this energy crisis - it's merely a possibility. Putin can still wage the war and the only true response europe can have is to wage war in return.

War in response to putin will be even harder to swallow after the people have suffered a year of energy rationing i reckon. When your house is cold and food scarce, the people in europe is more likely to be willing to accept appeasement.