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Europe is "fully committed" to phasing out Russian gas and is "ready to live without this Russian gas coming from the Ukrainian transit route," EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said on Sept. 11, during a press conference on the EU Energy Report 2024.
Ukraine currently transits Russian gas to the EU as part of a deal signed in 2019, which is set to expire in December 2024. Europe and Ukraine are in talks with Azerbaijan to replace Russia as a supplier.
Russia cut much of its pipeline gas transit to Europe in 2022, but countries like Austria, Hungary, and Slovakia remain heavily reliant on Russian imports.
Ending the transit of Russian gas through Ukraine represents a first step toward "completing the phase-out of Russian gas," Simson said.
According to Simson, the EU "used to import 150 billion cubic meters of gas from Russia every year, and it is now less than 50 (billion)."
"Our dependency from Russia dropped from 45% in 2021 to 15% last year," Simson said.
Europeans have also decreased their consumption of gas by 18% between 2022 and 2024, Simson said.
News emerged over the summer that the EU and Kyiv have identified Azerbaijan as a potential replacement gas supplier.
Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev said on Sept. 6 that negotiations are underway with the EU, Moscow, and Kyiv to transit Azeri gas after Ukraine stops transiting Russian gas.
Gas supplies from Azerbaijan would have to first transit through southern Russia before reaching Ukraine.
"Russia, Ukraine, and European institutions have approached us in connection with the continuation of gas transit through the territory of Ukraine," Aliyev said. "For several months we have been making great efforts to come to a common denominator."
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