U.S. and EU Pledge to Combat any Attempts to Disrupt Global Energy Markets
In response to Russia’s threats to global energy security, the United States and the European Union are strongly committed to combat attempts at energy market disruptions, the two sides said recently after a meeting of top American and EU officials in Brussels.
“The EU and the United States intend to continue to coordinate bilateral and multilateral responses to keep the global energy markets stable and support the energy transition required to achieve the goals of the Paris Agreement,” said the parties after the meeting attended by U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, EU High Representative and Vice President Josep Borrell Fontelles, European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson, and U.S. Deputy Secretary of Energy David M. Turk.
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“The two sides reiterated their strong commitment to directly confront, with adequate measures, all efforts to further destabilise the global energy situation and to circumvent sanctions,” the U.S. and the EU said.
The EU and the United States will also continue their Transatlantic cooperation to boost energy security while speeding up the energy transition.
“The Council reiterated that competitive, liquid, and transparent global energy markets remain critical to ensuring a reliable, sustainable, affordable, and secure energy supply for Europe to serve the transition to climate neutrality,” the U.S. and the EU said in the joint statement.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine last year, the EU has been the main customer of U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG), which has helped increase Europe’s preparedness to go through the winter without major gas shortages. Europe’s imports of Russian natural gas via pipeline have plummeted, although LNG imports from Russia have grown in the past year.
Now the European Commission and some EU members are calling for reduced imports of Russian LNG.
Last month, EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson urged all EU member states and all companies not to sign new LNG import contracts with Russia.
The European Union has managed to significantly cut its imports of Russian pipeline natural gas over the past year, but now it should stop all LNG imports from Russia, Simson said.
