Transcription
Hello and welcome everyone. Thank you so much for tuning in today. And I also want to thank every single one of you who supports my work, who subscribes on Substack and Patreon, or who has joined my channel here on YouTube. Your support is very much appreciated.
Now, I want to share with you something that truly shocked me. The United States is on track to help the EU give up the last remaining sliver of its sovereignty both in economic and political terms. The United States has issued a stark ultimatum, yet another one, to the European Union. If Europe wants Washington to ramp up sanctions against Russia, then Europe must first cut off its own purchases of Russian oil and gas.
Now, as the EU descends into economic chaos and decline, precisely because it has cut off any purchases of Russian energy, it now faces even darker economic prospects. The United States, of course, is the winner here. It sells more of its LG to Europe at double or triple the cost of Russian gas, and it gradually gains even more influence over the EU policies. The United States energy secretary Chris Wright told the Financial Times that continued European reliance on Russian energy directly funds Russia. According to Wright, unless Europe acts decisively, the United States will not take further steps to increase pressure on Moscow.
So, you see how sanctions can be used against the EU too as leverage. It is quite incredible how flexible of a tool this is. And and really the EU is getting bullied into buying more expensive American energy as it commits an economic suicide effectively. Wright's message is very clear. If the EU wants America to lean in harder against Russia, it must first draw a heartline itself. But what will the EU gain from it? It will gain full dependence on the United States. The United States says, "Well, there's no other way around it. We actually like that idea." And here's what Wright said. If the Europeans drew a line and said, "We're not going to buy more Russian gas. We're not going to buy Russian oil." Would that have a positive influence on the US leaning in more aggressively? Absolutely, says right.
The US EU standoff comes at a critical moment. It has become crystal clear that the 18 rounds of sanctions on Russia have failed quite miserably. And right now the EU is gearing up to impose even more sanctions to double down on its failing policies as it is on course to destroy itself completely. According to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the United States is quote prepared to increase pressure on Russia, but only if Europe takes reciprocal steps. So the ball is in the EU court. Energy politics are once again at the very center of global geopolitics as you can see.
In other words, if Europe stops buying from Russia, the United States is ready and eager to fill that gap with American LG, expensive gasoline, and other fossil fuels at double or triple the cost. Europe has made progress in reducing its reliance on Russian gas as it gradually became increasingly dependent on imports from the United States. For example, in 2024, Russian gas made up 14% of the EU's fossil fuel imports, down from nearly 40% 2 years prior in 2022. But this figure is now up 18% from 2023, mainly due to an increase in Russian liqufied natural gas purchases. That increase has set off alarm bells in Washington. Washington doesn't quite appreciate it. The Trump administration argues that European purchases of Russian gas undermine collective Western efforts to economically isolate Moscow, as if that's even possible.
The United States wants Europe to meet the terms of a 750 billion energy trade agreement that was signed under Trump just several months ago. Uh that agreement as you may recall requires the EU to purchase that amount in American energy products by the end of 2028. So the EU only has really less than 3 years to meet that requirement. Now remember that Fonder Lean actually walked back her promises making it clear that the EU understands that it is nearly impossible to meet that goal. It is impossible to meet that commitment. Chris Wright will meet with his EU counterpart in Brussels this week to press the case. He's also scheduled to meet with members of the European Parliament, many of whom are pushing for revisions to the US EU trade deal. They of course argue that the deal disproportionately benefits American interests, which of course it does. It is impossible to deny that.
But energy is just one front in this brewing transatlantic divide. EU's climate policy is another issue. Wright, who is known among environmentalists as Trump's fracker in chief, warned that Brussels ambitious green agenda threatens the viability of the entire US EU trade agreement. He called Europe's net zero by 2050 policy a quote colossal train wreck and a monstrous human impoverishment program. EU's new green laws aimed to enforce environmental accountability across global supply chains and at the same time reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Riot says that this creates what he calls huge legal risks for US fossil fuel exporters unless they make massive operational changes. So, in other words, to help you decipher this, the United States oil and gas industry and its lobbyists are pushing back on this US EU deal unless the EU changes its environmental policy. They're not worried about the Europeans and their well-being. They're worried about their pockets. Of course, last month, Exon Mobile, for example, urged the Trump administration to leverage the trade talks to weaken or to block these EU rules.
But the Trump administration is taking it one step further. As the EU is declining, the United States is now blaming the EU for its own demise as it continues to push the EU to the very brink of collapse by forcing it to abandon purchases of Russian energy. Chris Wright blames European energy and climate policies for rising prices, for economic stagnation, and what he calls the de-industrialization of the entire continent. In his words, the EU's exaggerated activist views of climate change and its heavy-handed bureaucracy have undermined energy security and widened the wealth gap between Europe and the United States. It's heartbreaking to see. Needless to say, that statement is is a very interesting one, and I would say uh it is a very cynical one, too.
The EU appears to be very eager to comply with Washington's demands and at this moment it is busy drafting legal rules to phase out Russian oil and gas by 2028 and also to accelerate renewable energy installations. But not everyone in the EU is on board. Hungary and Slovakia continue to buy Russian pipeline gas due to its lower price. And as Ukraine bombed the DURJBA gas pipeline three times over the past several weeks, Europe remained silent on these attacks, just as it did, just as it remained silent when Nordstream 1 and Nordstream 2 were mysteriously blown up by highly trained professionals. The US is using the energy question as leverage to tilt the balance of power in its favor. The EU appears to be past the point of return uh to common sense of course as it cuts itself off of the very lifeline that amplified its prosperity in a notsodistant past.
What's clear is this. The energy war is far from over and the battle for influence for markets and policy supremacy between Washington and Brussels is only heating up. What do you think? Will the EU cut itself off of Russian energy completely, or will it manage to regain some of its economic sovereignty? What do you think? Leave me a comment below. Thanks so much for watching and for joining me today. Remember to show your support. Give this video a thumbs up. Consider sharing it and subscribe on YouTube. I would love to have you back for my next one tomorrow. And if you enjoy reading, make sure that you subscribe on Substack on Patreon for more content. I would love to see every single one of you there, too. I'll see you back here tomorrow. Take care.