The European Union will receive at least 15 billion cubic metres of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States this year in an effort to wean itself off Russian gas imports, US President Joe Biden said on Friday.
Speaking alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen in Brussels, Biden said that the bloc would increase imports of US LNG to 50 billion cubic metres per year in the longer term.
Biden said the US welcomed the EU's commitment "to rapidly reduce its dependence on Russian gas - today, we've agreed on a joint game plan toward that goal, while accelerating our progress toward a secure clean energy future."
The longer-term goal of increasing imports of US LNG to 50 billion cubic metres per year "is replacing one-third already of the Russian gas going to Europe today," von der Leyen said.
"So we are right on track now to diversify away from Russian gas and towards our friends and partners - reliable and trustworthy suppliers," von der Leyen said.
The US has been attempting to increase its LNG exports to the EU for some years. The increase of exports will be gradual, however, because there are currently not enough import and export terminals on either side of the Atlantic.
The price at which the US will sell its liquefied natural gas to the EU was initially unclear, with commission sources saying that they would be based on prices in existing contracts.
As Russia's invasion of Ukraine enters its second month, there has been increasing pressure for the EU to reduce its dependency on Russian fossil fuels.
Germany - one of the most Russia-dependent EU nations in terms of energy - announced a plan on Friday to wean itself off most Russian oil and coal by the end of 2022.
Biden attended an extraordinary NATO leaders meeting as well as G7 and EU summits on Thursday to show a united front in responding to the Russia invasion of Ukraine.
At the summit, NATO leaders decided to activate defences against chemical and nuclear weapons, amid fears of a Russian escalation in Ukraine.
The US and Britain also announced further sanctions on Russia, the latest in many rounds of coordinated punitive measures designed to throttle Moscow's war effort.
Responding to the move, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Friday that the West had declared "total war" against Russia.
"The goals are not concealed, they are publicly announced - to destroy, devastate, ruin, suffocate the Russian economy and Russia as a whole," he said, according to a TASS report.
He noted that 'total war' was a phrase used by Nazi Germany as it sought to conquer much of Europe. It's not clear which, if any, Western politician Lavrov attributed the phrase to.
The Kremlin also pushed back on Biden's call the day before to exclude Russia from the Group of 20 industrialized nations, saying that such a move would "not be fatal" since most G20 members were waging economic war against Russia anyway.
EU leaders concluding a formal summit will address a host of issues relating to Ukraine, including China's role in the conflict, the process of ending the bloc's dependence on Russian energy imports and the economic fallout of the war.
The Covid-19 pandemic will also feature in the talks, with EU leaders discussing the global vaccine roll-out, as well pandemic prevention, preparedness and response.
