EU, US sign mega LNG deal in an attempt to curb reliance on sanctions-hit Russia
Categories: FOREIGN COUNTRIES
The European Union signed a landmark deal with the United States to deliver liquified natural gas (LNG) to the region as it attempts to break its reliance on sanction-hit Russia.Under the agreement, the US will be supplying additional 15 billion cubic meters of LNG—which is equivalent to around 10 per cent of the gas imports from Russia—this year, with supplies increasing over the coming years. The deal was announced on Friday during a three-day visit by US President Joe Biden to Brussels.Last year, the EU imported around 22 billion cubic meters of LNG from US."Putin is using Russia's energy resources to coerce and manipulate its neighbours," Mr Biden told reporters in Brussels. "He's used the profits to drive his war machine."He said the long-term benefits of the deal would outweigh the short term pain that reducing Russian gas supplies would cause. "I know that eliminating Russian gas will have costs for Europe, but it's not only the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, it's going to put us on a much stronger strategic footing."EU President von der Leyen, who was also present in the meeting, said: "We want, as Europeans, to diversify away from Russia towards suppliers that we trust that are friends and that are reliable."US gas supplies to the EU accounted for 6.3 per cent in the first half of 2021, the bloc's statistics agency says.