The EU, fearing Russia's actions, began to look for new gas suppliers

The European Union intends to hold talks with Azerbaijan on gas supplies, writes the Financial Times newspaper. The EU fears that Russia, which supplies 40% of fuel to Europe, may reduce pumping in response to Western sanctions that it threatens in the event of an invasion of Ukraine.

According to the publication, the United States has already spoken with Qatar and other major gas exporters about additional supplies of liquefied natural gas. Brussels, in turn, is negotiating LNG swap deals with some Asian countries. According to the newspaper, European Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson will travel to Azerbaijan in early February for talks with the country's energy minister and the country's minister of ecology and natural resources to agree on additional gas supplies to the EU, and on February 7 she will arrive in Washington for the US-EU Energy Council. .

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden said the European Union and the United States are seeking fuel supplies in the event of a disruption due to Russian aggression against Ukraine. “We are working with governments and market participants to supply additional volumes of natural gas to Europe from various sources around the world,” the statement said. It notes that the US is already the largest supplier of LNG to the EU.

Azerbaijan is ready to pump additional gas to Europe in an emergency if tensions between Russia and Ukraine disrupt supplies, said the republic's ambassador to the UK, Elin Suleymanov, BLOOMBERG reports.