EU TO PHASE OUT RUSSIAN ENERGY, OFFER UKRAINE SUPPORT BUT NO FAST-TRACK MEMBERSHIP

Thu 10 March 2022:

European Union leaders will phase out buying Russian oil, gas and coal as Moscow’s war on Ukraine makes them realise they have to be less dependent on Russia, a draft declaration showed, but they are unlikely to offer Ukraine the fast EU membership it seeks.

Leaders of the 27-nation EU are to meet in Versailles on Thursday and Friday, as Russia’s war against Ukraine, which Moscow calls a “special military operation”, enters its third week despite massive western sanctions.

“Russia’s war of aggression constitutes a tectonic shift in European history,” a draft declaration of the 27 EU leaders prepared for the summit said.

“Confronted with growing instability, strategic competition and security threats, we decided to take more responsibility for our security and take further decisive steps towards building our European sovereignty, reducing our dependencies and designing a new growth and investment model for 2030,” it said.

This is a turning point for the EU, because Russia is its biggest energy supplier, providing more than 40% of its gas, more than a quarter of oil imports and almost half of its coal.

The leaders will not set an overall deadline for weaning off Russian energy because dependency differs from country to country, with Germany, Italy, Hungary, Austria among the most deeply reliant on supplies from Moscow.

But the European Commission believes the EU as a whole could reduce its gas imports from Russia by two thirds this year if it diversifies suppliers, invests in renewable energy and improves the energy efficiency of buildings.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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