The country once again ranks second after Norway among the bloc’s natural gas suppliers, replacing the United States, a leading think tank estimates.
Russia has overtaken the United States to once again become the second largest supplier of natural gas to EU countries; the symbolism of this development is “huge,” according to the German newspaper Die Welt.
Brussels has said eliminating dependence on Russian energy is a top priority for its member states after the outbreak of hostilities in the Ukraine conflict in February 2022. Highly expensive US liquefied natural gas (LNG) has since swallowed up much of the market, exacerbating economic crises across the EU.
In the second quarter of 2024, Russian gas accounted for about 17% of all European imports, just ahead of supplies from the United States, Welt noted last Sunday, citing last week’s statistics update from Brussels-based think tank Bruegel. According to its figures, European customers received 12.27 billion cubic meters of American LNG in that period, while Russia delivered 12.73 billion cubic meters.
Russian deliveries include both LNG and pipeline gas, which flows to the EU via Belarus, Ukraine and the TurkStream undersea pipeline. kyiv, which charges transit fees for fuel delivered to its territory, has threatened to suspend operations after the current contract expires at the end of 2024. However, it has indicated that it is open to the possibility of third countries, such as Azerbaijan, using infrastructure built by the Soviet Union.
Dmitry Birichevsky, who heads the economic cooperation department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, described the dynamics of gas imports as evidence of the failure of the EU’s sanctions policy.
“While it is true that the indicators are significantly lower than before 2022, the facts speak for themselves” he told RIA Novosti on Monday. “Greece alone has quadrupled its purchases of Russian gas by 2023.”
The United States has sought to replace Russia as Europe’s energy supplier since well before the Ukraine conflict. President Donald Trump’s administration infamously labeled U.S. LNG “The molecules of freedom”when it pressured EU countries to choose this gas over Russian gas. Norway has always been the leading gas supplier to the market.
Moscow now views the EU as an unreliable client, showing that it is prepared to let US political goals take precedence over European economic needs.
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“In the context of the de facto economic war that has been declared against us, our projects to reorient foreign trade towards the countries of the South and the East remain a priority,” Birichevsky said.
RT
