The EU has created joint gas storage facilities, which are currently 64% full, President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said at a briefing.

"Now 147 days have passed since the beginning of Russian aggression in Ukraine, but we know that even a month before the war, Russia deliberately reduced gas supplies to a minimum, despite high gas prices," Ursula von der Leyen said.

The EC president noted that to date, 12 EU member states have suffered from a partial or complete cessation of Russian gas supplies.

"Russia is blackmailing us using energy as a weapon. Europe must be ready," she said.

"We are also increasing supplies from other reliable sources. Since January, they have increased impressively by 35 billion cubic meters. We have an agreement with the United States, Norway has become much more active on this issue, as well as Qatar and the Persian Gulf countries... Two days ago, we were in Azerbaijan to sign a memorandum of understanding to increase supplies," Ursula von der Leyen said.

The EC president stressed the importance of renewable energy, adding that the EU is working hard to increase the supply of renewable energy because it is "the energy of the future".





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