Russia continues to pump gas to Europe via Ukraine

Russia continues to supply natural gas to Europe through Ukrainian territory without interruptions, the spokesman for Russian energy major Gazprom, Sergey Kupriyanov, told the media on Monday.

“Gazprom supplies Russian gas for transit through Ukrainian territory in accordance with requests of European consumers,” Kupriyanov told reporters. According to him, around 56.9 million cubic meters of gas were requested as of April 18.

This volume is, however, below the deliveries provided under Gazprom’s long-term booking for gas transit via Ukraine, which is around 109.5 million cubic meters per day.

European consumers have been stepping up efforts to curb dependence on Russian natural gas amid sanctions placed on Moscow in response to its ongoing military operation in Ukraine. Some EU leaders proposed banning Russian energy imports altogether, but no drastic moves in this direction have been agreed upon, as most of the continent relies heavily on Russian gas and other energy supplies, and a complete embargo could result in a spike in inflation, which already reached record highs last month.

Nevertheless, Russian gas deliveries to Europe have been lower than prior to the launch of Moscow’s military operation in February. Germany, for instance, lowered Russian gas imports from 55% to 40% in recent weeks.

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