The bloc is buying overpriced American LNG while turning away from cheaper Russian supply, harming its own economy, Vyacheslav Volodin has said<\/p>\n
The EU is paying exorbitant prices for US liquefied natural gas (LNG), while rejecting more affordable Russian supplies, Russia\u2019s State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin has said, arguing the policy is damaging the bloc\u2019s economy.
\nSpeaking at a parliamentary budget session on Thursday, Volodin compared US LNG to a luxury fragrance, claiming EU governments were paying for energy as if it were a fashionable indulgence rather than a necessity.
\n\u201cThe gas supplied from America to Europe is not Chanel. But they\u2019ve valued its smell just as they would a French perfume. They\u2019re buying it, destroying their economy. And they blew up our pipelines, making things worse for themselves,\u201d he said.
\nVolodin was referring to the 2022 blasts that ruptured the Nord Stream pipelines between Russia and Germany under the Baltic Sea. German prosecutors have indicated the attack may have been carried out by a small group of Ukrainian nationals, but Moscow has dismissed that theory as \u201cridiculous,\u201d alleging instead that the sabotage was organized by the US under then-President Joe Biden.<\/p>\n
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EU\u2019s green laws threaten bloc\u2019s LNG flows \u2013 key suppliers<\/p>\n
The Duma speaker continued his criticism of EU leaders, saying it was already evident that their governments \u201chave no responsible attitude toward their own citizens.\u201d \u00a0
\nFollowing the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU introduced plans to reduce its reliance on Russian energy and gradually phase out imports of Russian gas, oil, and nuclear-fuel by the end of 2027.
\nHowever, Hungary and Slovakia \u2013 both heavily dependent on Russian gas \u2013 have opposed the timeline, saying the phase-out plan is unrealistic and would sharply raise prices while jeopardizing energy security.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The bloc is buying overpriced American LNG while turning away from cheaper Russian supply, harming its own economy, Vyacheslav Volodin has said The EU is paying exorbitant prices for US…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20932,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20931","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t