European Commission aims to end all Russian gas imports

BRUSSELS. Jan 20 (Interfax) - The European Commission is working out a plan to remove all Russian fossil fuels from the European Union market, but, even despite the EU's efforts, gas deliveries to Europe are continuing, and Brussels wants to put an end to this, European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said.

"On the plan, or roadmap, to wean off the European Union completely of Russian fossil fuels, this is ongoing work. It is something that was announced as something that the Energy Commission would present in the first 100 days [of its mandate], so we still have a couple of sleeps left before that deadline," Itkonen said at a press briefing in Brussels on Monday.

The EU has already taken significant measures "towards getting rid of any Russian fossil fuels", and "overall, we have significantly cut imports of Russian gas," she said.

"We cut all Russian coal imports, most Russian oil imports, and over two thirds of Russian gas," Itkonen said.

"Despite these significant results, there is still presence of Russian gas on the EU market. And this is something that we'd rather not see and this is of course one of the issues that will be addressed in that roadmap that will be presented in the coming weeks," she said.