Russia and its companies are working for the energy crisis in Europe to turn into disaster, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky has said in his speech at the Offshore Northern Seas Conference 2022 in Norway, which he joined via a video call.

"They want the Europeans to be scared. To draw wrong conclusions and give up European values in favor of illusory price reductions. Russia is using economic terror, price crisis pressure and poverty to weaken Europe just when its full force is needed to defend against terror in the war that Russia has been waging for more than six months," he said.

Zelensky also noted that "the threat of energy poverty is becoming real for tens of millions of people in Europe, who until recently could afford normal energy consumption."

"This is what the Russian state, its officials and companies, such as Gazprom, are working for. For creating crises and for crises to turn into disasters," he said.

The head of state also recalled that "right now, Russia is burning at least EUR 10 million worth of gas near the Finnish border every day. […] Russia cannot stop its production, does not want to supply it to the Europeans, as it is interested in the crisis. […] EUR 10 million on fire every day at the border of Russia is hundreds of millions of euros in additional expenses of the European middle class."

"The terrorist state does everything to ensure that there is as little gas as possible on the market at the highest possible price. […] And this is all part of the Russian hybrid aggression against all people, against all of us, against all of you, against all of united Europe," Zelensky said.