The EU must not abandon plans to ditch Russian oil and gas, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has said, as the war in Iran causes a painful supply crunch,
CNBC reports.
But Moscow is threatening to shut the door early, as the continent continues to wean itself off its supplies.
The EU has scaled back imports of Russian energy since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and is planning an outright ban on all Russian energy imports. But the U.S.-Israeli war on Iran has sent international markets into a tailspin, limiting oil and gas supplies and sending prices soaring.
Europe is particularly vulnerable to an energy shock, and more Moscow-friendly European states like Hungary have called for a lifting of EU sanctions on Russian energy imports to ease the supply crisis.
Von der Leyen said on Wednesday that it would be a mistake for the EU to abandon its strategy that aims to deprive Russia of revenues from its energy sales that fund its war machine against Ukraine.
“In the current crisis, some argue that we should abandon our long-term strategy and even go back to Russian fossil fuels. This would be a strategic blunder,” von der Leyen said in a speech in the European Parliament.
She said the EU was preparing other options to lower energy prices for its 27 constituent states, including state aid measures, power purchasing agreements and subsidies or caps on energy prices.
