WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th March, 2022) The European Union will achieve being fully independent from Russian gas by 2027, the EU Ambassador to the United States Stavros Lambrinidis said on Tuesday.
"I believe that by 2027-2028, we will have reduced our consumption of gas by about 150 billion cubic meters. That is today the amount of gas that we importing from Russia," Lambrinidis said in an online conversation with the Washington Post.
Lambrinidis acknowledged that now the EU is importing from Russia about 40 percent of its gas consumption, and it is impossible to find a substitute for such a big amount overnight.
"What we are already focused on is by the end of the year to try to wind ourselves away by close to two-thirds of that dependency," he said.
Lambrinidis pointed out that working together with Washington is a big part of that agenda, and EU plans to increase gas supplies from the United States beginning next year. He also mentioned the importance of developing the energy sector based on renewable sources, which would change the entire economy in the region.
Last week, Russian President Vladimir Putin instructed the government and the national energy giant Gazprom to switch gas sales with countries that have imposed sanctions on Russia to rubles by the end of March.
