"Irrational and unbelievable": EU imports more gas from Russia than from the USA

ntv.de "Irrational and unbelievable": EU imports more gas from Russia than from the USA 9 hours • 2 minutes reading time Despite the war of aggression against Ukraine, the EU is again importing more gas from Russia than from the USA. It is unclear which countries the gas is going to. The CDU speaks of madness, a traffic light politician is pushing for higher prices for imports. The target countries for the gas are not clear from the data. For the first time in almost two years, the EU states have again imported more gas from Russia than from the USA in a quarter. This is based on data from the Brussels-based consulting firm Bruegel. According to this, the EU imported a good 12.7 billion cubic meters from Russia and 12.3 billion from the United States in the quarter from April to the end of June. Compared to the first quarter of 2024, deliveries from Russia fell slightly, but those from the USA fell more sharply. Norway remains the EU's largest gas supplier with 23.9 billion cubic meters in the second quarter. Russia held this position until its attack on Ukraine in early 2022, after which many EU states reduced imports from the country. According to data from the Federal Statistical Office, Germany no longer imports gas from there. Across the EU, Russia has risen to second place in the list of suppliers, just ahead of the USA. The target countries were not revealed in the data. CDU foreign policy expert Norbert Röttgen called for an EU-wide import ban on Russian gas on the "Welt" broadcaster. "The Europeans are supporting Ukraine with billions and at the same time paying billions into Putin's war chest - that is neither responsible, rational nor credible." FDP energy expert Michael Kruse spoke out in favor of a surcharge on the price of Russian imported gas in order to finance aid and arms deliveries to Ukraine. "In this way, Putin would pay for the resistance to his barbaric attacks himself."