Europe will respond to any tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump in a proportionate way, the European Union's commissioner for the economy told CNBC Wednesday. "If there is a need to defend our economic interests we will respond in a proportionate way,

The U.S. is already the EU’s second-largest gas supplier and largest source of LNG — a result of Russia's decision to cut supplies following its invasion of Ukraine. Thus far in 2025, EU countries have imported over half of their LNG from America.

The demand for Europe to pony up comes from a sometime Trump antagonist, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky — and it shows how the new US president is already turning things upside down across the world.

Speaking a day after Trump’s inauguration, Ukraine’s president told world leaders at Davos that Europe needs to remain united and “learn how to take care of itself.”

Volodymyr Zelensky has warned European leaders Donald Trump will ignore them if the continent doesn’t take better care of its own defences.