(MENAFN) The European Union is paying excessively high prices for liquefied natural gas (LNG) imported from the United States while turning away from more affordable Russian energy, according to Russia’s State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. He argued that this approach is inflicting serious harm on Europe’s own economy.

During a parliamentary budget meeting on Thursday, Volodin likened the EU’s energy purchasing strategy to luxury spending, suggesting that European governments were treating US gas as though it were an extravagant product.

“The gas supplied from America to Europe is not Chanel. But they’ve valued its smell just as they would a French perfume. They’re buying it, destroying their economy. And they blew up our pipelines, making things worse for themselves,” he said.

His remarks alluded to the 2022 explosions that severely damaged the Nord Stream pipelines linking Russia and Germany beneath the Baltic Sea. While investigations in Germany have suggested that a small group of Ukrainian nationals might have been behind the attack, Russian officials have dismissed that version as baseless, asserting instead that the operation was orchestrated by the United States during the presidency of Joe Biden.

Volodin went on to accuse EU leaders of neglecting their citizens’ well-being, claiming their decisions demonstrate a lack of responsibility toward their own populations.

After the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU announced measures to drastically reduce its dependence on Russian energy sources, aiming to eliminate imports of Russian gas, oil, and nuclear materials by the end of 2027.

However, some member states, including Hungary and Slovakia, have voiced opposition to the timeline. Both nations, which rely heavily on Russian gas, have warned that the proposed phase-out is impractical and would drive up costs while undermining the region’s energy security.

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