The European Commission is to issue proposals on Tuesday to rapidly free EU countries from energy dependence on Russia.

“We have to get rid of the dependency on Russian gas, oil and coal,” commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in Brussels at a meeting with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

The plan to end dependence on Russia comes amid fears that the country’s invasion of Ukraine could affect the EU’s energy supply.

Russian gas is shipped to the bloc across Ukrainian territory.

There are also concerns Moscow could cut off supply in response to sanctions the EU imposed on Russia for the invasion.

The EU imports the vast majority of the natural gas it consumes and in 2019, Russian gas accounted for 41 per cent of imports.

That year, more than a quarter of the EU’s crude oil imports 27 per cent and almost half of coal and solid fuel imports, 47 per cent, were from Russia.

Mr Von der Leyen said plans involve improving the bloc’s energy efficiency, increasing investments in renewable energy production and changing the EU’s energy sources to more reliable suppliers.

The proposals aim to eliminate dependency on Russian oil and gas, not just reduce it, European Commission chief spokesperson Eric Mamer said.

The EU and the United States were working to secure stable energy supplies before Russia’s invasion, with Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) identified as an alternative.

The U.S. is already the biggest supplier of LNG to the bloc, and Qatar has been identified as another option.

(dpa/NAN)