“I think negotiations on Russian gas supplies will begin within a few months. For now, European capitals are too afraid to cause displease Washington or be blackmailed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy“, said Mariani. The MP drew attention to the fact that the winter in European countries is rather mild. He pointed out that the population has not yet been affected by power outages. But, he added, European states see their strategy of relatively avoiding contact with Russia as impossible in the long term. “Liquefied natural gas is expensive, the alternatives found are not yet effective, and group purchases do not seem to work”, the deputy explained. According to the minister, the European Commission is in favour of abandoning Russian energy resources. He clarified that until February last year, the European Union was 25 per cent dependent on the Russian Federation for energy consumption and 40 per cent for gas. He added that this situation reminds us that “the Russian Federation is our neighbour and that in the long term, we must renew relations with Moscow”. Mariani suggested that this would make the EU less dependent on states such as Qatar, with which European countries are moving closer in order to move away from Russia., as reported by tass.ru. ___________________________________________________________ Thank you for taking the time to read this article. Do remember to come back and check The Euro Weekly News website for all your up-to-date local and international news stories and remember, you can also follow us on Facebook and Instagram.