By Hedelberto López Blanch on June 19, 2026 from Havana
image: Aidan
The subordination to Washington that Western Europe’s millionaire leaders have reinforced over the past decade with the aim of weakening Russia has cost those nations widespread economic, political, and military deterioration, as well as a loss of credibility on the international stage.
The British newspaper Financial Times recently estimated that the numerous anti-Russian “sanctions” imposed by the European Union (EU) and Great Britain at the behest of the White House have caused companies doing business in Russia to suffer losses of more than 100,000 million euros, specifically in the oil and gas sectors, as well as financial institutions, insurance companies, banks, public utilities, and the automotive industry.
By following the United States in its attempts to weaken Russia—first under the Joe Biden administration and later under Donald Trump—Western Europe has been forced to pay large sums of money for more expensive fuels sourced from Washington, while simultaneously breaking major agreements and transactions with the Eurasian giant.
A report published by Eurostat indicates that the volume of Russian oil imported by EU countries decreased from 29.2% (in 2021) to 1.4% (in 2025), and that of gas from 38.5% to 7.9%, over the same period.
The price of “freeing themselves from dependence” on Russian fuel—as Washington demanded from the very beginning—is around one trillion euros, which has turned out to be a disastrous deal.
Dmitri Birichevski, director of the Department of Economic Cooperation at the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reported during a speech at the recent St. Petersburg Forum that European Union nations have lost up to one trillion dollars after abandoning Russian raw materials and hydrocarbons due to rising prices and the fact that they now have to pay more to other suppliers.
The White House forced the EU to stop purchasing Russian hydrocarbons and instead buy them from the United States at a higher price under the “justification” that those countries should not be economically tied to Moscow.
Under these circumstances, the Yamal-Europe gas pipelines—including the second branch that ran through Ukraine—were shut down, and the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines were destroyed, actions that the Kremlin classified as acts of terrorism.
In any case, according to Russia, those who gave up these resources continue to purchase Russian oil and gas through intermediaries at higher prices.
Let us recall that last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen signed a one-sided, completely unbalanced trade agreement with President Trump, which constituted yet another humiliation for Europe.
Under that agreement, EU products entering the United States will be subject to a 15% tariff, while EU member states will not charge any duties on U.S. goods entering their countries. It’s that simple—as they say, the law of the funnel.
Furthermore, the European Union agreed to purchase $750,000 million in U.S. energy products—primarily liquefied natural gas and nuclear energy—to reject those purchased at much lower prices from Russia, to invest $600,000 million in the U.S. economy, and to acquire large quantities of military equipment from the United States.
In late June 2025, under heavy pressure from Trump, NATO members agreed at the Hague summit to allocate 5% of their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to security and military spending by 2035, which will represent an annual drain of 500,000 million euros for those countries. Furthermore, Washington will remain the leading exporter of arms to Western Europe.
According to Mario Draghi, former president of the European Central Bank and former prime minister of Italy, “the European Union is sinking into recession, and the future of its economy looks bleak.”
To cap off these developments, the United States has succeeded in stalling the European Union as an economic and political competitor; however, it has failed to weaken Russia, which remains one of the world’s major powers.
Hedelberto López Blanch is a Cuban journalist who writes for the daily newspaper Juventud Rebelde, Cuba en Resumen and Opciones. He has authored many books including Rubio an Uncontrollable Mythomanic
Source: Cuba en Resumen