He also claimed the West had “shot itself in the foot” by cutting reliance on Russian energy after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Dmitriev, an increasingly visible Kremlin economic envoy who has negotiated with the U.S. about the war in Ukraine, has ramped up his messaging in recent days, casting Russia as indispensable to global energy markets as supply tightens and arguing Western sanctions have backfired.
His bullish remarks come with energy prices skyrocketing as Iran’s blockade of the Strait of Hormuz disrupts liquefied natural gas flows and pushes crude oil toward $100 a barrel, stoking fears of a broader economic shock.
So far, Brussels is holding the line.
“There is no road back to dependency on Russian energy,” EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen said this week, insisting the bloc should not import “as much as one molecule.”