European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen attends the official reception of the G7 leaders’ summit at the Schloss Elmau castle in Bavaria, near Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, June 26, 2022. REUTERS/Benoit Tessier/Bassin
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BRUSSELS, July 17 (Reuters) – European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Baku on Monday to seek more natural gas from Azerbaijan, the EU executive said, as the European Union seeks to reduce its dependence on Russian energy .
“Against Russia’s continued weaponization of its energy supplies, diversifying our energy imports is a priority for the EU,” the Commission said on Twitter. “President von der Leyen and (Energy) Commissioner Kadri Simson will be in Azerbaijan tomorrow to further strengthen cooperation.”
According to a draft document seen by Reuters on July 14, the Commission offered EU countries a deal with Azerbaijan to increase natural gas imports and support the expansion of a pipeline for it. Read more
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The commission could not be reached for comment. EU governments have already agreed on a gradual oil embargo on Russia.
Meanwhile, transit of Russian gas through Poland has stopped this year, and gas supplies through Ukraine have been curtailed since Moscow’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine.
Germany, the world’s fourth-largest economy, is bracing for all sorts of scenarios, including a complete shutdown of Russian gas supplies, even as the regular 10-day maintenance period for the giant Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline is due to end later this week .
In a tweet on Sunday, Russia’s ambassador to international organizations in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said: “Russia has never refused to continue natural gas supplies to Europe and fully complies with its contractual obligations.”
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Reporting by Robin Emmott Editing by Gareth Jones
Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
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