Biden seals LNG deal to help EU face energy crunch amid ‘Russia’s brutal war’

The United States will supply the European Union with more liquefied natural gas (LNG) to help curb its reliance on Russian fossil fuels, US President Joe Biden said on Friday, as EU leaders met to deal with an energy crunch triggered by the war.

The pact, announced during a visit by Biden to Brussels, follows a day of three summits in the city where leaders lambasted Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and offered fresh support to Kyiv.

“We’re coming together to reduce Europe’s dependence on Russia’s energy,” Biden told reporters. “We should not subsidise Putin’s brutal attack on Ukraine.”

Russia supplies 40 per cent of the European Union’s gas needs and more than a quarter of its oil imports.