BERLIN, September 6. /TASS/. Vice-President of the European Commission Maros Sefcovic believes that ending all supplies of Russian gas to Europe will be a "mission impossible."

"Last year, we reduced Russian gas imports from 150 billon cubic meters to less than 80 billion cubic meters. This year it is expected to be around 40 billion cubic meters, including liquefied natural gas," Sefcovic was quoted as saying by Germany’s Handelsblatt newspaper.

At the same time, the official added that if the European Union continues to invest in infrastructure and create new partnerships, it will be able to further reduce the volume of liquefied natural gas imported from Russia.

The Financial Times newspaper reported on August 30, citing Global Witness data, that the European Union countries plan to import record-high volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia despite Brussels’ stated intent to abandon Russian fossil fuels by 2027.

According to the organization’s data, Belgium and Spain ranked second and third, respectively, as buyers of Russian LNG after China over the first seven months of this year. Liquefied natural gas supplies from Russia to China surged by 62.7% in annual terms in the January-July period to reach 4.46 mln metric tons.