Europe has cut gas purchases from Russia faster than expected by 15 percent. This was announced by US Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey Payat in Istanbul, Turkish media reported.
Payat participated in a two-day Atlantic Council regional conference on clean and secure energy that began yesterday in Istanbul. Business representatives and senior government officials of Turkey, the USA, and Europe are participating in the event. The conference aims to strengthen energy cooperation in the region through energy transformation and clean energy projects, as well as the region's role in energy security.
The energy transition is accelerating and each country is going its own way. We will discuss this in detail next month at (UN climate conference) COP29 in Baku. Since 2022, Europe has diversified its energy supply much faster than anyone could have predicted. Russian gas imports to the EU have fallen from 45 percent in 2021 to just 15 percent last year, Payat said.
The EU also reaffirms its commitment to achieving the goal of a complete divestment of Russian energy by 2027, he added.
Payat pointed out that Turkey has made a significant contribution to the diversification of supply sources.