Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Europe to become even more independent of Russian energy supplies after the Baltic states disconnected themselves from the Russian energy network, DPA reported, quoted by BTA. He suggested the Middle East and North Africa as possible suppliers in his video address last night, the agency said.
"Moscow will no longer be able to use energy as a weapon against the Baltic states," Zelensky stressed after Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania announced that they had integrated their electricity networks into the European grid after separating from Russia's energy system.
"This is the path that all of us in Europe should follow - all of us on the continent," Zelensky continued. This applies primarily to the countries of Central Europe that still have contracts with Russia, he explained.
"We need to work more with America - (for) liquefied natural gas, oil. "We need to work more with our partners in the European Union's neighboring countries, in this region, to import the necessary energy," the Ukrainian head of state announced.
Yesterday afternoon, the three Baltic states, which are members of the European Union and NATO, were connected to Poland and the continental European grid via the "Litt Pol Link" power line, joining the world's largest synchronous grid, serving over 400 million consumers in 26 countries.
The three former Soviet republics had already stopped importing electricity from Russia in response to Moscow's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Zelensky recommended the countries of the Caucasus region, the Middle East and North Africa as an alternative to Russia as an energy supplier.
"The less Europeans depend on Russia, the sooner we will be able to guarantee reliable security for everyone in Europe," he stressed.
At the beginning of the year, Ukraine suspended the transit of natural gas from Russia to Europe. Together with the EU, pressure must also be exerted on Russia's attempts to use its tankers and fleet "against us, against all of Europe".
Ukraine has also imposed sanctions on the captains of ships from the Russian "shadow fleet". "This must be supported at the European level - the European Union must join these sanctions in the energy sector," Zelensky said.