(MENAFN) The European Union is paying excessively high prices for US liquefied natural gas (LNG), while rejecting more affordable supplies from Russia, according to Vyacheslav Volodin, Speaker of Russia’s State Duma.

He argued that this approach is harming the EU’s economy. Speaking during a parliamentary budget session on Thursday, Volodin likened the US LNG to an expensive luxury product, suggesting that EU governments were treating energy as a trendy indulgence instead of a basic need.

He compared US-supplied gas to a high-end perfume, stating, "The gas supplied from America to Europe is not Chanel. But they’ve valued its smell just as they would a French perfume."

Volodin claimed that the EU was buying this overpriced gas, thereby undermining their own economy.

He also pointed to the destruction of Russia’s pipelines, stating that it worsened the situation for the EU.

Volodin was referencing the 2022 explosions that damaged the Nord Stream pipelines connecting Russia and Germany beneath the Baltic Sea.

While German prosecutors have suggested that a small group of Ukrainian nationals may have been responsible, Moscow has rejected this theory as “ridiculous.”

The Russian government insists that the sabotage was orchestrated by the US under President Joe Biden’s administration.

The Duma speaker went on to criticize EU leaders, claiming that it was already apparent that they showed no genuine concern for their own citizens in their decision-making.

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