European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a speech at the European Parliament plenary session dedicated to the one-year anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine that Russian President Vladimir Putin lost the energy war against Europe.
“He thought it would be easy to hold Europe to ransom, because of our dependence on Russian oil and gas. But he was wrong there too. Today, one year after the war began, he has already lost the energy war he started. We have repositioned ourselves, thanks to reliable partners, and the results can be seen. Russia's income from sales of gas to Europe has shrunk by two-thirds. The oil price cap means that Russia is losing EUR 160 million in revenue every day,” the European Commission President said.
She noted that gas prices in Europe are now lower than before Russia invaded Ukraine, and Europe is investing more than ever in clean energy and energy independence.
“In expanding renewable energies, we are breaking one record after another. Last year, for the first time, we generated more electricity from wind and solar than from gas. With European unity and a smart energy policy, we have withstood Russian pressure and freed ourselves from our energy dependency. Our economy today is performing significantly better than forecast and, at the beginning of the week, we were able to revise our growth predictions upwards,” Ursula von der Leyen said.
At the same time, as the President of the European Commission noted, the Kremlin is having to sell gold reserves to plug the gaps left by the lack of oil revenue. Putin's attempt to blackmail Europe using energy has been an abject failure.