EU to negotiate Russian gas supplies soon, French MEP tells Russian daily 'Izvestia'

YEREVAN, January 9. /ARKA/. The European Union will soon start negotiations on Russian gas deliveries, Thierry Mariani, a French member of the European Parliament, said in an interview with Russian daily Izvestia published on Monday, Tass reported.

"I think negotiations on Russian gas supplies will begin in the next few months. Meanwhile, European capitals are far too scared to displease Washington or get blackmailed by Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky," Mariani said.

According to him, the population in Europe has not yet suffered from power outages due to mild winter. But, as Mariani notes, European states see that their strategy of avoiding contact with Russia is not possible in the long term.

"Liquefied natural gas is expensive, the alternatives found so far are ineffective, and group purchases do not seem to work," the deputy added.

Mariani said it is the European Commission that advocates abandoning Russian energy resources. Until February last year, the European Union was 25 percent dependent on Russia for energy and 40 percent dependent on Russia for gas. He added that this situation was a reminder that "Russia is our neighbor and in the long term we have to renew relations with Moscow."

According to Mariani, this will make the EU less dependent on disreputable states such as Qatar, with which European countries are getting closer in order to distance themselves from Russia.-0-