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Some European countries are heavily dependent on Russia for their gas supply.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said earlier this month that EU leaders had agreed to spend the next two months drafting proposals aimed at eliminating the bloc’s dependence on vis-à-vis Russian energy imports by 2027.
Here is an overview of the actions taken by some EU countries:
Germany: Russia’s biggest energy customer in Europe had already taken steps to deal with the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline. But now it is responding to more concerns about a possible gas shortage with other countries.
Germany issued an ‘early warning’ of possible natural gas shortages after Russia said it wanted to be paid in rubles and threatened to cut off supplies if that didn’t happen.
“Payment in rubles is not acceptable,” German Economy Minister Robert Habeck said on Monday.
Speaking at a press conference in Berlin on Wednesday, he said the warning phase was preventive in nature and would see increased monitoring of gas supplies. He also called on businesses and consumers to use gas sparingly. German gas storage is currently filled to 25% capacity, according to Habeck.
“There is currently no shortage of supply,” he said. “Nevertheless, we must take further precautionary measures to prepare for any escalation from Russia.”
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz spoke on the phone with his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin later on Wednesday, in which he stressed that Berlin was committed to a G7 agreement that energy supplies from Russia would only be paid for in euros or US dollars, according to a German reading. of the call.
Putin told Scholz that the law that payments for Russian energy supplies should be made in rubles does not apply to European partners, and payments would continue to be made in euros and transferred to Gazprom Bank, which does not ‘is not affected by the sanctions, then converted into rubles, according to the reading.
“Chancellor Scholz did not agree to this procedure in the conversation, but requested written information to better understand the procedure,” the reading said.
Netherlands: The Dutch government has asked the public to use less gas as it hopes to reduce its dependence on Russian imports, according to a spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy. However, the Netherlands would not trigger a gas crisis plan, a spokesperson told CNN. Instead, the government hopes to reduce Dutch gas consumption through a campaign aimed at its citizens.
Austria: Vienna has issued an “early warning” of possible natural gas shortages in the country, which also follows Russia’s threat to cut off supplies if it is not paid for in roubles. The early warning sees Austria taking “the next step in preparing for an emergency”, wrote Climate Minister Leonore Gewessler on Twitter.