Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) and special representative of the President for investment cooperation, commented on the record heat in Europe.
In a post on his X social media account, Dmitriev said, "There is no energy to run the air conditioners needed to save people in the EU and the UK because they rejected accessible and reliable Russian energy."
In mid-June, an abnormal heatwave hit Europe; temperatures approached 40 degrees Celsius in many countries and exceeded this level in some places.
Meanwhile, according to a Politico report, due to the extreme heat, air conditioning on floors 1 through 7 of the European Commission's headquarters in Brussels was turned off on Friday. However, the floors where European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and many commissioners work were exempt from this measure. Politico wrote that employees compared the situation to "feudalism" and called it "shameful."
Russia has repeatedly stated that the West made a huge mistake by rejecting Russian energy resources and would slide into expensive new dependencies. Dmitriev's remarks reflected this position.