Kremlin says Europe needs Russian oil and gas to ‘survive’

SAINT PETERSBURG: The Kremlin’s economic envoy told AFP on Thursday that Europe needed Russian oil and gas to “survive” the energy crisis triggered by the war in the Middle East.

Western nations have hit Russian energy with sanctions since the start of the war in Ukraine, but European countries have continued to buy Russian gas — LNG in particular — from their former key supplier.

Surging prices due to the US-Israeli war on Iran and Tehran’s closure of the Strait of Hormuz have even pushed some countries, including the United States and Britain, to ease some of the restrictions on Russian oil.

“The world is on the brink of a very serious energy crisis because of the instability in the Middle East,” Kremlin economic envoy Kirill Dmitriev told AFP on the sidelines of the Saint Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF).

“In order for Europe to overcome this crisis, Europe needs to find options for partnership with Russia and to restore the flows of both oil and gas from Russia,” he said.

Analysts say the EU imported more Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) in the first quarter of 2026 than in any period since 2022, with Russia the bloc’s second-largest supplier.

Europe plans to ban the import of Russian LNG from next year and has ruled out any easing of existing sanctions.

The EU’s top diplomat, Kaja Kallas, has urged more pressure to be put on Moscow.

“So far we haven’t seen the willingness from the Russian side to actually negotiate” to end the war, she told AFP in Brussels on Wednesday.

Nevertheless, Russia has sensed an opportunity to have the sanctions relaxed or overlooked amid the crisis.

At the start of the war in the Middle East, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was ready to supply European countries with oil and gas if they committed to “lasting and stable cooperation” with Moscow.

Russia has increased its energy sales to China and India since 2022, often selling at a discount to global benchmark prices.