Mark Rutte, NATO Secretary General, in an interview with the Dutch television program "Pauw Wit," responded to the criticisms from European countries regarding Donald Trump's recent agreement with Vladimir Putin on diesel delivery. Rutte stated that these criticisms come at a time when Europe continuously spends billions of dollars on energy supplies from Russia.
Diesel Agreement and Related Criticisms
In this interview, Rutte acknowledged that some European countries were "terrified" by the Russia-U.S. agreement last month, and he himself had raised his eyebrows in surprise for a while. However, he emphasized that countries continue to engage in energy trade despite economic sanctions against Russia and promises to reduce dependency on the country.
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Rutte pointed out: "In the first half of this year, Europe purchased 6 billion euros worth of liquefied natural gas from Russia. This amount is significantly higher than the revenue that the diesel deal could bring. Therefore, Europe is not as blameless and clean-handed as it claims."
Concerns and Military Implications
The NATO Secretary General responded to criticisms that the diesel deal provides financial resources necessary for funding Russia's military expenses, stating: "Is it supposed that weapons will be funded from the 6 billion euros that Europe spends on liquefied natural gas?" He also acknowledged the concerns of Volodymyr Zelensky, the President of Ukraine, regarding this agreement and added that currently, only Washington is capable of providing the vital military support needed by Ukraine.
The diesel agreement, announced on October 9, 2023, between Trump and Putin, includes the delivery of 300,000 tons of diesel initially, followed by another 500,000 tons in November and an additional 1 million tons thereafter. This agreement faced severe criticism from Zelensky and Kaja Kallas, the EU's foreign policy chief, who called it a weak decision.
Despite the EU's commitments to cut energy dependency on Russia by 2027, estimates show that member countries of this union purchased liquefied gas worth 5.96 billion euros from the Yamal project in Russia in the first six months of 2026. This figure increased to 7.88 billion euros by the end of September.
Alexander Novak, Russia's Deputy Prime Minister, recently estimated that the EU has spent over 320 billion dollars on energy purchases from Russia since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022. This indicates Europe's continued dependency on Russian energy resources despite sanctions and international criticisms.
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