EU delays Russian energy exit strategy amid geopolitical turmoil

The European Union will pause the planned release of a long-awaited proposal to end its reliance on Moscow’s fossil fuels and nuclear technology, as United States President Donald Trump seeks to normalize relations with Russia and impose his version of peace in Ukraine.

Work on the roadmap on reducing dependency on Russian energy is ongoing, but will not be presented later this month as planned, a senior EU official granted anonymity to discuss the closed-door talks told POLITICO.

“We are still moving forward with the Roadmap, it is being prepared, but the timing has changed in light of the latest geopolitical developments. The date will be communicated in due course.”

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.

“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.