“We are coming together to reduce Europe’s dependence on energy from Russia”, Biden told reporters. “We should not subsidize Putin’s brutal attack on Ukraine.”
Russia supplies 40% of the European Union’s gas needs and more than a quarter of its oil imports.
“As you know, our goal is to reduce our dependence on Russia,” EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen told Biden at the joint news conference.
“The US commitment to provide the EU with at least an additional 15 billion cubic meters of LNG this year is a big step in this direction,” he said, adding: “We are determined to stand up to Russia’s brutal war.”
However, with US plants already producing LNG at full capacity, analysts said most of the additional gas going to Europe would have to come from exports that would have gone to other parts of the world.
The longer-term goal would be to secure, through at least 2030, some 50 billion cubic meters (bcm) per year of additional US LNG, von der Leyen and Biden said.
FIGHT OVER ENERGY BILLS
The invasion of Europe’s main gas supplier has pushed energy prices to record levels and prompted the EU to commit to cutting Russian gas use by two-thirds this year, increasing imports from other countries and boosting renewables. .
EU leaders will discuss on Friday what more they can do to control high energy bills.
“The EU is not just about great principles, great meetings and American presidents,” Belgian Prime Minister Alexander De Croo told reporters upon arrival for the second day of a summit of the bloc’s leaders.
“Today it’s about people’s everyday problems and that’s the electricity and gas bill, and that’s the impact that we see today from the war in Ukraine… so we have to intervene,” he said, adding that the The EU should enter the energy market to reduce prices.
Spain, Greece and other countries will defend energy price caps and market intervention, while a group including Germany and the Netherlands will back down and try to delay such measures, diplomats said.
The divisive issue of whether to impose an embargo on Russian energy, in addition to the series of sanctions already aimed at Moscow, will also come up, but a resolution is not expected.
The countries most dependent on this supply, in particular Germany, are reluctant to take a step that would have a great economic impact.
The 27 leaders will also commit to jointly start buying gas and filling storage before next winter to create a buffer against further supply crises.
By Jarrett Renshaw and Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters Agency
Source: Ambito
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