Borrel Heads For Energy Talks With U.S., Warns Russia Has Grown More Immune To Sanctions

European Union's chief diplomat Josep Borrel writes the following in a blog post on the eve of his trip to Washington DC for a meeting of the EU-U.S. Energy Council:

• "With the severe crisis that we are currently going through with Russia, it has become not only a price issue but also a matter of security of supplies. (...) As I said last week, by reducing the overall gas import ratio from Russia, we will be investing not only in the green transition but also in reducing our strategic dependencies."
• "However, in recent years, Russia has enhanced its resilience against economic sanctions, by increasing its foreign currency reserves, more than we have done to enhance our capacity to face potential gas supply cuts. We should urgently consider developing EU strategic gas reserves and the possibility of joint gas purchasing, as the Commission has suggested."
• "Russia has already in the past used energy supplies for political purposes. In recent weeks, although Russia has been fulfilling strictly its contractual commitments, the Russian-state owned Gazprom has refused to send additional supplies to re-fill European storage facilities, creating further nervousness in the market."
• "In the short term, we face, and we must tackle, the immediate problem of ensuring security of gas supply. This means working for greater diversification of import routes and sources. The US already is Europe’s largest Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) supplier, and we are intensifying our cooperation to ensure that our gas supplies are safe throughout the months to come."
• "While we seek to address the EU’s own energy and climate goals and enhance our resilience, we must do the same for Ukraine. In terms of energy security, Ukraine today is already better prepared for any conflict. As in the rest of Europe, true energy security can however only come through more investment in domestic renewables and better connections with the EU market."
• Note that European Commission High Representative Borrel and Energy Commissioner Simson will hold comprehensive talks on energy security with their U.S. counterparts Blinken and Granholm over the next two days.