RIO DE JANEIRO, November 19. /TASS/. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, in claiming that supplies of liquefied natural gas from the US are "cheaper" than Russian gas, is using a twisted logic to justify herself, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said at a press conference following his participation in the G20 summit.

"As for energy prices, Ursula [von der Leyen] made a rather curious statement here. She said that American liquefied natural gas is cheaper than Russian. When her experts laughed at her and began asking questions of her press secretary, he replied: 'She meant cheaper politically, not economically.' So, she believes that buying Russian gas is politically expensive because you are not earning the right political reputation for yourself," Lavrov said.

"Does that sound logical to you?" he wondered.

In October, speaking at an informal EU summit in Budapest, Von der Leyen said that the EU intends to explore closer cooperation with the future administration of US President-elect Donald Trump, including by committing to increase purchases of American LNG, which is supposedly "cheaper than Russian."

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman, Maria Zakharova, noted that the price of LNG is determined by market mechanisms, and not by its country of origin. According to her, the statements of the head of the European Commission are "pure populism."