EU shifting back towards Russian energy — Welt

The country once again ranks second only to Norway among the bloc’s natural gas suppliers, replacing the US, a top think tank estimates

Russia has overtaken the US to once again become the second-largest supplier of natural gas to the EU nations; the symbolism of the development is “huge,” according to the German newspaper Die Welt.

Brussels declared eliminating reliance on Russian energy one of the key priorities for its member states after hostilities in the Ukraine conflict broke out in February 2022. Expensive US liquified natural gas (LNG) has since gobbled up a large portion of the market, exacerbating economic crises throughout the EU.

In the second quarter of 2024, Russian gas accounted for roughly 17% of all European imports, just ahead of supplies from the US, Welt noted last Sunday, citing last week’s update of statistics by the Brussels-based think-tank Bruegel. According to its figures, European customers received 12.27 billion cubic meters of US LNG over that period or time, while Russia delivered 12.73 billion cubic meters.

The Russian supplies include both LNG and pipeline gas, which flows to the EU via Belarus, Ukraine and the TurkStream undersea gas pipeline. Kiev, which receives transit fees for fuel delivered through its territory, threatened to suspend operations after the current contract expires at the end of 2024. However, it has indicated that it is open to third nations, such as Azerbaijan, stepping up using Soviet-built infrastructure.

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Dmitry Birichevsky, who heads the economic cooperation department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, has described the gas import dynamics as a testament to the failure of EU sanctions policy.

“While it’s true that the indicators are significantly lower than before 2022, the facts speak for themselves,” he told RIA Novosti on Monday. “Greece alone has ramped up the purchase of Russian gas fourfold over 2023.”

The US has sought to replace Russia as an energy supplier to Europe since before the Ukraine conflict. The administration of President Donald Trump infamously branded American LNG “molecules of freedom”, when it pressured the EU nations to select it over Russian gas. Norway has historically been the top supplier of gas to the market.

Moscow now considers the EU an unreliable customer, which has shown that it is willing to let US political goals trump European economic needs.

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“Under the circumstances of the de facto economic war declared on us, our plans to redirect foreign trade to the nations of the Global South and East remain a priority,” Birichevsky said.