Brussels: In a major development to curb Europe’s reliance on Russia for natural gas, the United States and the EU have signed a major gas deal on Friday, during a three-day visit of the US President to European countries.
The deal was signed between Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. The two heads discussed the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by Russia and offered new support to the besieged country.
US and EU sign historic deal to supply Europe with gas – in bid to move away from Russian fuel https://t.co/LQODGDmd9m pic.twitter.com/lRRsa06ydP
— City A.M. (@CityAM) March 25, 2022
Russia, being the biggest producer of natural gas, supplies more than 40% of Europe’s total gas.
The longer-term aim of the deal is to ensure, until at least 2030, about 50 billion cubic metres per year of US gas, up from last year’s 22 billion cubic metres.
Joe Biden commenting on Russian manipulation of its neighbours said, “Putin is using Russia’s energy resources to coerce and manipulate its neighbours. He has used the profits to drive his war machine.”
Although the deal between the two western allies would mean the import of expensive gas, Biden assured that the long-term benefits of the deal would outweigh the short term pain.
“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, but it’s also going to put us on a much stronger strategic footing.”
President von der Leyen said: “We want, as Europeans, to diversify away from Russia towards suppliers that we trust, that are friends and that are reliable.”
She pointed out that the target 50 billion cubic metres per year “is replacing one-third already of the Russian gas going to Europe today. So we are right on track now to diversify away from Russian gas.”
The deal is one of the major steps taken by the US and its allies to isolate Russia and exhaust its resources due to its invasion of Ukraine.
