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G7 to expedite efforts to reduce reliance on Russian energy supplies

The G7 group of nations is going to accelerate the energy transition

WANGELS /Germany/, May 14. /TASS/. The G7 group of nations (the UK, Germany, Italy, Canada, the US, France and Japan) intend to expedite efforts to reduce and end reliance on Russian energy supplies, according to a statement by foreign ministers of G7 states approved on Saturday following a three-day meeting in the Wangels municipality in the north of Germany.

"We will expedite our efforts to reduce and end reliance on Russian energy supplies as quickly as possible, building on G7 commitments to phase out or ban imports of Russian coal and oil," the statement said.

"We will accelerate the energy transition and enhance energy efficiency in the context of the accelerated phasing out of our dependency on Russian energy, in accordance with our climate objectives and energy security imperatives, thereby steadily reducing foreign currency flows into Russia and restricting the financial means available to fund Russia’s war machinery," heads of G7 foreign ministers noted.

"We will ensure that we do so in a timely and orderly fashion, and in ways that provide time for the world to secure alternative supplies," they added.

EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell admitted on Friday that representatives of 27 European Union’s member states failed to reach a compromise on the sixth package of sanctions against Moscow during the nine days of heated discussions, which is why the issue is planned to be considered at a meeting of heads of EU foreign ministries on May 16.

On May 4, the European Commission (EC) President Ursula von der Leyen announced the sixth package of sanctions against Moscow, which includes the postponed embargo on Russian oil supplies. The European Commission suggested that crude oil deliveries from Russia to the EU be banned within six months, while imports of petroleum products - in 2023, she said. The European Commission also agreed to enable Hungary and Slovakia to continue buying Russian crude oil until the end of 2024. According to sources, the EC has already eased a number of its proposals on the time of enforcement, parameters and possible exemption from the oil embargo.

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