[Zanfa]

It's really not if we're talking about the sum of payments to Russia from EU for oil/gas. Before the 24th, the share of Russian gas was hovering above 50% of total EU imports and when the price skyrocketed, the dollar value of imports did as well. Your link cuts off at Q2 2022, which is when the price was at it's highest. Since then, Russian gas imports have dropped off a cliff as well as the price. As of Dec 2022, EU imported only about 1/5 of the amount of gas from Russia that they did Dec 2021. Given the new (and planned) LNG capabilities, that percentage will only keep dropping.

So yes, EU did pay the most money they've ever paid for gas to Russia, but that was a one-off situation, which is not going to repeat. Russia overplayed it's hand.