Gas production company. File photoBERLIN, Apr 12It will not work to reduce gas imports from Russia as quickly as some would like, said German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at a briefing in Warsaw. «Of course, this also includes the attempt that all European states are making, including us, — how can we reduce gas and oil supplies as soon as possible, it will be faster with oil… We are also reducing gas, if we compare the second half of 2021, where we imported about 60 percent of gas from Russia, then in the first quarter of 2022 it is 40 percent. You can say that this is still too much, but you also see that the discussion does not pass us by, we are looking for ways to reduce dependence, but we say, in terms of our economic structure, which includes a strong chemical industry, this will not work quickly, as some would wish now,» the president said.February 1, 15:17 InfographicRussian gas in Europe: leading countries in terms of purchasesInfographicViewHe stressed that the damage from the sanctions should be borne by those against whom the restrictions are directed. Europe should not «inflict more damage on itself than it is supposed to inflict on Russia,» Steinmeier said. After the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine in February, the German authorities announced their intention to reduce dependence on Russian energy supplies for the foreseeable future. Germany expects to stop importing coal and oil from Russia by the end of this year, tentatively it is said that it will be possible to end dependence on gas by mid-2024. At the beginning of the year, Germany received almost 55 percent of natural gas imports from Russia; at present, this share has been reduced to 40 percent. An alternative to Russian gas, from the point of view of official Berlin, could be LNG from Qatar, the United States, and other countries. Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24. President Vladimir Putin called its goal «the protection of people who have been subjected to bullying and genocide by the Kiev regime for eight years.» For this, according to him, it is planned to carry out «demilitarization and denazification of Ukraine», to bring to justice all war criminals responsible for «bloody crimes against civilians» in Donbass. According to the Russian Ministry of Defense, the Armed Forces strike only at the military infrastructure and Ukrainian troops and, as of March 25, they have completed the main tasks of the first stage — they have significantly reduced the combat potential of Ukraine. The main goal in the Russian military department was called the liberation of Donbass.
