The White House press secretary said Russia was essentially weaponizing energy supplies by cutting off Poland and Bulgaria from Russian gas supplies.

“Well, unfortunately, this is not - this is the type of step, the type of almost weaponizing energy supplies that we had predicted that Russia could take in this conflict. That is why we, of course, have been in touch with Europe, including over the - with these countries - including over the last 24 hours, with leaders in Poland and Bulgaria.

And we have been working for some time now, for months, with partners around the world to diversify natural gas supply to Europe to - in anticipation of and to also address near-term needs and replace volumes that would otherwise come from Russia.

I would note that last month, in advance of this, the President launched a task force with the EU to target additional LNG volumes for Europe, including Poland and Bulgaria. This will help replace, over time, Russian gas to Europe, decreasing Europe’s dependence on Russia and Putin’s ability to use energy to coerce Europe”, - said Jen Psaki.