In an emergency, Europe cannot replace deliveries from Russia

Berlin, Brussels, New York, Washington Planning for an emergency has begun: no one wants to admit it officially, but the danger of Russia cutting off gas supplies to Europe if the Ukraine crisis escalates is real. Behind closed doors, politics and business are on the alert. The US government is working on a concept for Europe’s emergency supply and has already held talks with industry representatives in this country. A spokesman for the US State Department confirmed this to the Handelsblatt.

The talks between US special adviser Amos Hochstein and various European companies dealt with “a number of possibilities”, it said. The ministry did not want to give any details. However, European energy companies are already in agreement: “The USA cannot compensate for the natural gas from Russia with its LNG,” explains Leonhard Birnbaum, head of the energy giant Eon in an interview with the Handelsblatt.