The decision to decouple from inexpensive Russian energy was a mistake, said Alice Weidel, co-chair of the right-wing AfD party
Germany has become dangerously dependent on US gas imports after abandoning inexpensive Russian energy, Alternative for Germany (AfD) co-chair Alice Weidel has warned. She also urged Chancellor Friedrich Merz to re-engage with Moscow diplomatically and stop fueling the Ukraine conflict.
Following the escalation of the hostilities between Kiev and Moscow in February 2022, most EU member states, including Germany, drastically reduced Russian oil and gas imports – a decision that has caused energy prices to spike across much of the bloc.
Speaking at a party event last Friday, Weidel said Germany had traded Russian energy imports for an alternative that is five times more expensive, US liquefied natural gas (LNG), which requires specialized terminals and infrastructure.
“We must not become dependent on one country. We must diversify and above all, we must buy where it’s cheap. And that’s in Russia,” she argued.
She also claimed there are few people in the federal government with “any economic policy expertise.”
The AfD co-chair also argued that Berlin “must open the doors to diplomatic negotiations” with Moscow over the Ukraine conflict. “We need peace as quickly as possible, and we must stop feeding this war” with weapons deliveries to Kiev, she said. Weidel added that Germany should instead pressure Ukraine to negotiate with Russia in good faith.
The German Environmental Aid Association (DUH) reported in January that 96% of Germany’s LNG imports in 2025 were from the US. Around the same time, the European Union approved a plan to completely halt Russian gas imports by late 2027.
Commenting on the decision, former German MP and veteran left-wing politician Sahra Wagenknecht said that the “EU is sealing its economic decline and complete dependence on US fracking gas.”
Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova has said that by adopting the decision, the EU essentially limited its own freedom of choice.
Last August, Chancellor Merz acknowledged that the German economy had slid into a “structural crisis,” after contracting for two consecutive years in 2023 and 2024. High energy prices have contributed to the trend, making local industry less competitive.
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