Russia's minister of finance bragged that his country would earn 1 trillion rubles in oil and gas revenues this year.
Minister of Finance of Anton Siluanov told Rossiya 1 that the Russian Federation expected the earnings to be used, in part, to help fund President Vladimir Putin's unprovoked attack on Ukraine.
Siluanov added that although revenue previously had been partially sent to the reserve, this year the money also would go toward pensions, and payments to families with children.
"There are resources for this. And this includes additional oil and gas revenues," Siluanov told Rossiya 1, Gazeta.ru reported.
Earlier, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak wrote an article for Russia's Energy Policy and said he doubted the European Union would be able to replace Russian oil and gas in the foreseeable future, reported.
"The resolution of the European Parliament on the ban on the import of Russian energy resources notes that the decision must be accompanied by an action plan aimed at guaranteeing the security of the EU energy supply," Novak wrote.
"However, key players in the industry agree that it is unlikely that it will be possible to completely replace Russian oil and gas in the next 5-10 years."
Novak also wrote that the sanctions imposed on Russia has had a "boomerang" effect on the West.
"Economic sanctions against Russia, which were announced by a number of unfriendly states, have an unprecedented impact on the global economy and its key industries, including energy," Novak wrote.
"The situation is developing according to the boomerang principle — the negative consequences have largely affected precisely those countries that initiated the sanctions restrictions."
EU leaders gathered Monday in a new show of solidarity with Ukraine but divisions over whether to target Russian oil in a new series of sanctions are exposing the limits of how far the bloc can go to help the war-torn country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy repeatedly has demanded that the EU target Russia's lucrative energy sector and deprive Moscow of billions of dollars each day in supply payments.
But Hungary was leading a group of countries — along with Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Bulgaria — that rely on Russian oil and can't afford to take such steps. Hungary gets more than 60% of its oil from Russia, and 85% of its natural gas. Prime Minister Viktor Orban has insisted that an oil embargo should not be discussed at the summit.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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