On Wednesday Germany’s Economy Minister Robert Habeck derided the US for using the continually worsening energy crisis in Europe to rack up record profits for American energy companies.

In a translated interview with the regional paper NOZ, Habeck said, “Some countries, including friendly ones, sometimes achieve astronomical prices [for their gas]. Of course, that brings with it problems that we have to talk about.” He went on to call for more solidarity from Washington, saying it should be providing assistance for America’s allies in Europe.

He went on to point out, “The United States contacted us when oil prices shot up, and the national oil reserves in Europe were tapped as a result. I think such solidarity would also be good for curbing gas prices.”

He also said the EU “should pool its market power and orchestrate smart and synchronized purchasing behavior … so that individual EU countries do not outbid each other and drive up world market prices.”

The EU is facing an unusually difficult energy situation going into the winter. Gas supplies from Russia have been massively curtailed, as the TurkStream natural gas pipeline was shut down over bureaucratic issues, the Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 pipelines were sabotaged, and the remaining natural gas pipeline which passes through Ukraine and Austria was recently shut off due to a dispute over fees.

Europe became heavily dependent on cheap natural gas from Russia for its heating and electricity production, as it sought an easy way to transition away from coal, which was deemed less environmentally friendly.

Since the conflict in Ukraine began, between sanctions applied to Russia limiting its energy sales, and the pipeline issues, prices for natural gas have skyrocketed, and there are increasing fears of shortages in the winter, due to the lack of Russian gas supplies entering the already tight market.