A top European official reportedly blasted President Joe Biden and his response to the Russia-Ukraine War, saying that the U.S. has “profited the most” from the war.
According to a Politico report, top European officials believe that while Europe has struggled following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, America has made money off of gas and weapons.
“The fact is, if you look at it soberly, the country that is most profiting from this war is the U.S. because they are selling more gas and at higher prices, and because they are selling more weapons,” a senior official, who was not named, reportedly told Politico.
The official added that the U.S. needed to realize that public opinion throughout Europe was changing, especially as the continent has faced skyrocketing energy prices, which are only expected to get worse as winter sets in. He said that many Europeans were becoming increasingly skeptical of the U.S. and the war, which has dragged on since March.
“We are really at a historic juncture,” the official said. “America needs to realize that public opinion is shifting in many EU countries.”
The U.S. has already provided billions of dollars in weapons to Ukraine with the Biden administration has signaled that it will keep on sending more, asking for another $38 billion in the last week, including defense aid.
When asked about claims the U.S. was responsible for high gas prices in Europe, a spokesperson for the National Security Council pinned the blame on Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“The rise in gas prices in Europe is caused by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine and Putin’s energy war against Europe, period,” the spokesperson said, before adding that exports of liquified natural gas allowed Europe to become less reliant on Russia for energy.
The comments come after European nations were forced to scramble for new power supplies after Russia severed natural gas shipments and the Nord Stream pipeline system sustained unprecedented damage from an unknown actor.
Russia accounted for 40% of the European natural gas supply last year, a rate that had dropped to 9% as of three months ago. Germany, the continent’s largest economy, has seen dependence on Russian natural gas decrease from 55% to 35%.
“I think it has been addressed for this winter,” BP CEO Bernard Looney said about storage levels, even though some spend up to half of their disposable income on energy. “It’s the next winter I think many of us worry, in Europe, could be even more challenging.”
Ben Zeisloft contributed to this report.
