The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, admitted that the EU's own decisions caused an additional cost of 100 billion euros in gas imports in 2026, Director of the Department of Economic Cooperation at the Russian Foreign Ministry, Dmitry Birchevsky, told our agency.
"The EU itself continues to buy energy from Russia, albeit in smaller volumes, and has paid $320 billion for this supply since 2022," the senior diplomat said.
The official emphasized that his country has the largest natural gas reserves in the world and is the second largest producer, so he sees it as difficult to isolate it from the increase in consumption.