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Austria is unable to stop buying Russian natural gas this year, the head of energy giant OMV, Alfred Stern, said in response to calls for European states to place an embargo on Russian supplies. In an interview with Die Presse, he stated:

"Embargo on Russian gas is impossible if we are not ready to accept the dire consequences. Some countries could do it, but for Austria it is not possible this year... The phase-out of Russian gas comes at a price."

Stern explained that unlike some EU countries, Austria "is in a difficult position" when it comes to alternative energy sources, having "no access to the sea, no access to liquefied petroleum gas."

Stern is not alone in his views regarding Austria's dependence on Russian energy. Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer said earlier this week that he does not support any restrictions on the supply of oil and gas from Russia to Europe.

"From us there should be a clear rejection of any ideas about stopping the import of Russian gas or Russian oil."

Currently, gas storage facilities in Austria are only 13% full, media reports, citing industry sources.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban said, on Friday, that there are countries which will not be able to substitute Russian gas with the more expensive American alternative.

Speaking to local radio station Kossuth, ahead of this weekend's parliamentary election, Orban said Russian gas is his country's only option, as Hungary is landlocked and won't be able to directly receive liquified gas from the US.

Orban reiterated that Hungary condemns Russia's attack against Ukraine, and that he understands the efforts of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, as his country is in trouble and he is looking out for Ukrainian interests, but stated that

"Hungary can't help the Ukrainian people by destroying itself. This war is not our war, we can't win here, but we can lose everything. The question is will we have an economy left by the end of it or not. It is impossible for Hungary to turn off cheap Russian gas and buy expensive American energy instead."

It is not viable for Europe to count on the transportation of sufficient volumes of liquified gas from the US across the ocean, and that there is no alternative to Russian supplies in the near future, for Hungary in particular.

"It's not about putting on a sweater at night, or turning down the heating a little or paying a bit more for gas, it's about the fact that if there is no energy coming from Russia, Hungary will be left with no energy at all."

The prime minister came under fire from Ukraine and its supporters for refusing to take a definitive stance against Russia. President Zelensky called on the Hungarian leader to quit "sitting on the fence" and choose a side in the conflict between Kiev and Moscow.

Unlike other EU capitals, Budapest has so far refused to either send weapons to Ukraine, or allow other countries to move shipments through its territory.

Earlier, Orban said that Hungary is intent on looking out for its own interests first and will maintain a "Hungarian point of view," but emphasized that "it must be made clear to the Russians that it is not worth pursuing this war," warning at the same time that Europe should avoid hurting itself "more than the Russians."

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The establishment media were abuzz this week with stories about a "seven-hour gap" in White House switchboard logs on January 6, but on Thursday night it emerged that the gap was likely the result of using ordinary landlines and cell phones.

Documents turned over to the United States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack, and then leaked to the media, suggested that there was a gap that could have been caused by President Donald Trump or his aides suppressing information.

"A 7-hour gap in Trump's calls evokes a missing spot on Nixon's tapes," the Washington Post reported breathlessly, recalling the 18-minute gap in President Richard Nixon's White House tapes that ultimately led him to resign his presidency in 1974.

The Post's left-wing opinion columnist Greg Sergeant suggested the absent Trump phone logs were "worse than Watergate":

In another bid for the "Worse than Watergate" files, it turns out there is a seven-hour gap in Donald Trump's phone logs on the day of the insurrection attempt. According to documents obtained by The Post and CBS News, there is no record of then-President Trump's calls on Jan. 6, 2021, from just after 11 a.m. to shortly before 7 p.m.

That means there's a big black hole in the record when it comes to Trump's conversations throughout the period during which the mob assaulted the U.S. Capitol and violence raged over several hours.

The documents, which were turned over to the House select committee examining Jan. 6, do show that Trump had many calls before 11 a.m. and after 6 p.m. that were apparently related to the coup effort. That suggests Trump held many calls related to the insurrection between those two times that are not officially accounted for.

Sargent speculated that the reluctance of Trump aides to cooperate with the one-sided January 6 probe added fuel to the story.

But it turns out to have been something of a hoax. As CNN reported on Thursday evening, citing a source inside the January 6 investigation, there were no missing pages in the switchboard logs and that there was a more likely, innocent explanation.

In its story on the phone logs, CNN — using six reporters — reported that the so-called gap was not, in fact, unusual:

The mystery of the seven-hour gap has fueled furious speculation as to why calls are missing. That includes allegations that Trump was using "burner phones" (which he has denied) or that the logs were purposely suppressed.

But the gap might have a less mysterious explanation.

According to multiple sources familiar with Trump's phone behavior and the White House switchboard records, the January 6 log reflects Trump's typical phone habits. He mainly placed calls through the switchboard when he was in the residence but rarely used it when he was in the Oval Office. The fact the log does not show calls on January 6, 2021, from the Oval Office is not unusual, said the sources, because Trump typically had staff either place calls directly for him on landlines or cell phones. Those calls would not be noted on the switchboard log.

CNN also noted, citing a former aide to President Barack Obama, that Obama's calls were also frequently not in the record.

Thus, despite the Post's suggestion that the "gap" was "worse than Watergate," the story seems to have ended the same way other "worse than Watergate" hoaxes about Trump, like the "Russia collusion" conspiracy theory, have ended: by being debunked.

Despite puncturing the bubble about the seven-hour gap, CNN still began its article by reminding readers that Trump phoned Vice President Mike Pence that day, noting that the call is not in the records — perhaps because it was made by cell phone.

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