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(Reuters) – The European Commission will in the next two weeks present a roadmap on how it intends to phase out all imports of Russian fossil fuels, its President Ursula von der Leyen said at an energy event in London on Thursday.
The European Commission has pledged to quit Russian fossil fuels by 2027 in response to Moscow’s 2022 invasion of Ukraine.
Imports of Russian gas have fallen to 18% from around 45% in 2021, but there is still more to be done, von der Leyen said at a meeting organised by the UK government and the International Energy Agency.
Much of the supply gap has been plugged by an increase in exports of liquified natural gas (LNG) from the United States and an increase in gas from Norway.
“These energy partnerships, including imports of LNG from the United States, remain of strategic importance for the European Union,” she said.
U.S. President Donald Trump has said he wants the EU to buy more American gas and EU officials see that as a possible bargaining chip in negotiations about tariffs.
The Commission is assessing various legal tools to include in the roadmap. Options being considered include using EU legislation to forbid EU companies from signing new Russian gas contracts, or providing legal grounds for European companies to break existing Russian gas contracts without facing penalties, Reuters reported earlier this week.
Von der Leyen did not confirm the date of the roadmap in her speech, but a separate Commission agenda shows it is due to be published on May 6.
Reporting by Susanna Twidale in London and Kate Abnett in Brussels; editing by William James
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