İSTANBUL – Pia Bozyel – On Thursday at the extraordinary NATO Summit, U.S. President Biden had a number of meetings on Ukraine and discussed his plan to assist Europe with its energy needs. Meanwhile, on Friday prior to Biden’s trip to Poland, he announced that America will assist Europe in reducing its dependence on Russian oil and gas and guarantee that Europe has enough supplies for the next two winters. He said it’s a new initiative designed to deprive Russia’s President Putin from receiving European energy profits that President Biden said Putin uses to finance his war on Ukraine.
Biden and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen spoke to the press on Friday with Biden saying that Russia is using its oil and gas supply to “coerce and manipulate its neighbors.” As Biden commented: “It’s going to take some time to adjust gas supply chains and infrastructure that (were) built for the last decade so we’re going to have to make sure the families in Europe can get through this winter and the next while we’re building an infrastructure for a diversified, resilient and clean energy future.” Both leaders announced a joint task force to help make Europe independent from Russian oil and gas. The panel will be chaired by representatives from the White House and the European Commission with the goal of finding alternative supplies of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and to decrease overall demand for natural gas in the future. Europe has found it difficult to cut off its supplies of oil and gas from Russia since it has been dependent on Russian energy for decades. Biden responded to that: “I know that eliminating Russian gas will have costs for Europe, but it’s not only the right thing to do from a moral standpoint, it’s going to put us on a much stronger strategic footing.”
The White House said the U.S. will work on supplying Europe with at least 15 billion cubic meters of liquefied natural gas in 2022 in partnership with other nations. The gas would come from multiple sources, senior administration officials said that include Asian countries. Also included in this plan is an outline for future use of clean energy sources and reducing emissions. As Biden concluded: “This crisis also presents an opportunity. It’s a catalyst,” Biden said. “A catalyst that will drive the investments we need to double down on our clean energy goals and accelerate progress towards our net zeroes emissions future.”
In the meantime, President Biden will hold a bilateral meeting with Polish President Duda about the humanitarian situation and how the U.S. and allies are dealing with the refugee crisis. Biden will meet with service members from the 82nd Airborne Division in Rzeszow, Poland and in Warsaw, on Saturday, Biden will meet with Ukrainian refugees and with American humanitarians in Poland. The president is expected to give a major address before returning to Washington.
