US, EU announce plan to reduce European reliance on Russian gas

The United States and the European Union have unveiled a plan to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels following the invasion of Ukraine.

US President Joe Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the creation of the joint task force aimed at cutting the bloc’s reliance on Russian imports during a joint news conference in Brussels on Friday.

“Putin has used Russia’s energy resources … to manipulate its neighbours,” said Biden, who arrived in Europe this week to take part in several emergency meetings. “He’s used the profits to drive his war machine.”

“Today, we’ve agreed on a joint game plan toward that goal, while accelerating our progress toward a secure clean energy future,” he said. “This initiative focuses on two core issues. One, helping Europe reduces dependency on Russian gas as quickly as possible Secondly, reducing Europe’s demand for gas overall.”