WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th April, 2022) US and EU representatives met in Washington, DC to discuss prospects of diversifying natural gas supplies to Europe and reducing the continent's overall demand for the fossil fuel, according to a joint statement published by the White House on Friday.
"On April 28, the U.S.-EU Task Force on Energy Security met in person in Washington to discuss implementation of the March 25 Joint Statement by Presidents Biden and von der Leyen. The meeting, chaired by Amos Hochstein, U.S. Senior Advisor for Energy Security, and Björn Seibert, Head of Cabinet of the European Commission President, reviewed progress on diversifying natural gas supplies to Europe and reducing Europe's demand for natural gas," the statement said.
The officials also discussed plans to establish a framework to increase LNG supplies as part of the EU's Energy Purchase Platform and options to reduce Europe's reliance on natural gas, including renewable energy and the deployment of heat pumps, the statement added.
The European Commission announced on Thursday the creation of a regional taskforce in Sofia that will shop around for energy supplies ahead of winter after Russia stopped pumping gas to Bulgaria and Poland.
Russian energy giant Gazprom cut natural gas supplies to the two EU members on Wednesday after they refused to pay for gas in rubles in accordance with President Vladimir Putin's decree from March 23.
On February 24, Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Luhansk appealed for help in defending themselves against Ukrainian forces. In response to Russia's operation, Western countries have rolled out a comprehensive sanctions campaign against Moscow and vowed to reduce dependence on Russian energy.
