EU becomes addicted to expensive US natural gas — Russian envoy to UN

The European Union has become addicted to ‘heavier drug’ in the form of the US liquefied natural gas, Russian Permanent Representative to the United Nations Vasily Nebenzya has said.

"Some may contradict that the European Union was first founded as an economic rather than a political bloc. Economy has always been Europe’s strong and attractive side," he told the UN Security Council on Thursday. "Maybe a year ago this was true, but things changed dramatically since then."

"One year after ties with my country were severed, GDP growth in the ‘united Europe’ is stuck around a zero mark. At the same time, record pace of inflation is measured by double digits. Rejoicing that it was able to kick its dependence on Russian gas, the European Union promptly became addicted to a heavier drug, the expensive American LNG," the Russian diplomat said.

In his words, it cost Europe 710 billion euros in 2022 to keep the energy sector of its economy running.

"In other words, Europe’s liberal free market economies can only survive today thanks to state subsidies and grants-in-aid," the Russian diplomat said. "However, the prosperity and economic strength of Europe were based primarily on Russian cheap energy. Now that it’s gone, Europe became an economic ‘colossus with feet of clay,’ and energy-intensive industries started to stretch across the ocean - to sheer delight of the ‘big brother.’"

"As ‘pestilent tongues’ say, from the very beginning of the conflict Washington has been working towards this goal, which is to ruin its European competitor," he added.