Ursula von der Leyen
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will travel to Baku on Monday to seek more natural gas from Azerbaijan, the EU's executive said, as the European Union seeks to reduce its reliance on Russian energy.

"Amid Russia's continued weaponisation of its energy supplies, diversification of our energy imports is a priority for the EU," the Commission said on Twitter.


Comment: It's not so much about 'diversification' as it is about finding a supplier than can substitute the huge amounts that Russia was supplying.


"President von der Leyen and [Energy] Commissioner Kadri Simson will be tomorrow in Azerbaijan to further strengthen the cooperation."

According to a draft document seen by Reuters on 14 July, the Commission has proposed to EU countries a deal with Azerbaijan to increase imports of natural gas and support the expansion of a pipeline to do this.


Comment: Meanwhile they have the ready to go Nord Stream II pipeline that was finished at the end of last year. Russia has even said it will pump gas through there whilst Canada holds the NS I turbine hostage, that has thus far nearly halved gas supplies to some countries in Europe.


The Commission was not immediately available for comment.

EU governments have already agreed a gradual oil embargo on Russia.


Comment: They agreed to the gas reduction, and look how well that's going.


Meanwhile, Russian gas transit via Poland has stopped this year and gas shipments via Ukraine have been curtailed by Moscow's 24 February invasion of Ukraine.

Germany, the world's fourth-biggest economy, is preparing for all scenarios, including a complete stop to Russian gas supplies even once a regular 10-day maintenance period on the giant Nord Stream 1 pipeline is set to end later this week.


Comment: Germany and other countries are 'preparing' by warning citizens of potentially rolling blackouts, and, in the meantime, large property developers are already restricting use of energy, without the consent of the consumers.


On Twitter on Sunday, Russia's ambassador to international bodies in Vienna, Mikhail Ulyanov, said: "Russia never refused to continue natural gas supplies to Europe and fully complies with its contractual obligations."