(Jan 27): The European Commission is likely to postpone its planned publication date for a road map to phase out the last remaining fuels from Russia, including liquefied natural gas (LNG).
The bloc’s executive arm may put forward the plan on March 26, a month later than originally planned, according to people familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive planning. The road map is expected to lay out the steps needed for the European Union’s (EU) member states to fully exit from Russian fuels, part of the effort to cut off funding for President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.
LNG from Moscow remains one of Europe’s last major energy dependencies after pipeline flows through Ukraine ended at the end of last year. The EU brought in record volumes of the super-chilled fuel from Russia last year, with France, Spain and Belgium the biggest importers. A number of EU countries still also import nuclear fuel from the country.
A group of 10 EU nations had been pushing to toughen measures against Russia by introducing restrictions on natural gas and LNG, However, those efforts are complicated by the need to secure unanimity among all the 27 members of the bloc. The commission has set itself a non-binding goal to be free of Russian supplies by 2027.
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