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EU delays Russian energy exit strategy amid geopolitical turmoil

An indicative college agenda prepared by the European Commission similarly confirms that the plan is not due to be presented later this month, as had originally been communicated.

Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen had vowed to bring forward concrete proposals on eliminating Russian oil, gas and nuclear fuel from the EU's power systems within the first 100 days of his mandate — a deadline that will now be missed.

The EU is currently holding talks with the Trump administration that are likely to include commitments to increase imports of American gas, while Washington's bilateral talks with Russia in recent weeks have sparked uncertainty over future economic relations between the Kremlin and the West.

Work on the roadmap on reducing dependency on Russian energy is ongoing. | Oliver Bunic/Getty Images

“We need to be mindful that we could not have done the decrease in dependency from Russia without energy from … the U.S,” Jørgensen told POLITICO in an interview in December. “They really have been our friends and I hope, of course, that we will continue to be friends.”

Zia Weise contributed reporting.

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