The US and European Union on Friday announced a new partnership to reduce the continent’s reliance on Russian energy, a step top officials characterised as the start of a years-long initiative to further isolate Moscow after its invasion of Ukraine.
US President Joe Biden asserted that Russian President Vladimir Putin uses energy to coerce and manipulate his neighbours and uses the profits from its sale to drive his war machine.
Biden said the partnership he announced jointly with a top European Union official would turn that dynamic on its head by reducing Europe’s dependence on Russian energy sources, as well as the continent’s demand for gas overall.
