The European Union is going to reduce gas imports from Russia to 40-45 billion cubic meters. m.

The countries of the European Union (EU) are going to reduce imports of Russian natural gas to 40-45 billion cubic meters. m. already in 2023, noted in a message distributed by the US State Department following the results of the next meeting of the US-EU task force on energy security.

“Today, the European Union has already significantly reduced its dependence on Russian fossil fuels. This, in particular, happened due to the gradual abandonment of coal imports, a reduction in oil imports by 90% and a significant reduction in the volume of natural gas imports from Russia,” notes the State Department materials published on the department’s page on the social network X.

EU countries are also going to “diversify” their sources of liquefied natural gas supplies in preparation for the coming winter.

The day before, November 1, the head of the Ministry of Energy of the Russian Federation Nikolai Shulginov statedthat only an increase in Russian gas supplies can reduce gas prices in Europe. He noted that Russia has not closed the western direction for gas supplies and is open to negotiations on supplies to Europe, but is waiting for proposals from the buyer.

The coming winter will be the second for Europe, preparations for which are taking place in the context of a decrease in gas imports from Russia against the backdrop of hostilities in Ukraine and subsequent sanctions. In response, Russia reduced supplies to the European Union to the contract minimum. Before this, Gazprom was a key supplier to the EU, occupying more than 45% of the gas market there.

Alexander Kislov