Lithuania becomes the first EU-member to refuse importing Russian gas

According to the country’s prime minister, Lithuania has become the first EU member state to refuse to import Russian gas.

“From now on, Lithuania will not consume a cubic centimetre of toxic Russian gas,” Ingrida Šimonytė said in a tweet on Sunday.

This makes Lithuania the “first EU country” to refuse Russian gas imports, she added.

The EU has committed to reducing its dependence on Russian gas by 66% by the end of this year.

Dependency

The European Union depends on Russia for around 40% of its natural gas supply. Russia also provides about 27% of its oil imports and 46% of its coal imports. Together, this trade is worth tens of billions of dollars a year to Russia.

The EU had promised to diversify its energy supplies before, most notably in 2014 when Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine. However, little progress was made since then, in part because Germany – Russia’s most prominent energy customer in Europe – didn’t want friction with Moscow.

But President Vladimir Putin’s decision to invade neighbouring Ukraine changed all that.

In early March, EU officials outlined plans to cut Russian gas imports by 66%.

A few days later, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the bloc’s leaders had agreed to spend the next two months crafting proposals to eliminate the EU’s dependence on Russian energy imports by 2027.

Moreover, on March 25, US President Joe Biden announced a new initiative that includes the United States supplying at least 15 billion m³ of liquefied natural gas by 2022 in partnership with other nations.

In general, Europe’s dependence on Russian gas and oil has proven to be a major contentious point in Western efforts to punish Moscow for its behaviour in Ukraine. While the Us has banned energy imports from Russia, Europe has struggled to cut its supplies.

Source: CNN Brasil

To read the full original article, please go to:

https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/internacional/lituania-se-torna-o-primeiro-estado-membro-da-ue-a-recusar-importacoes-de-gas-russo/

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