US Trying to Dissuade Number of States From Increasing Russian Energy Imports, Blinken Says

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The United States is engaged with a number of countries to discourage them from increasing imports of Russian oil and gas amid the western sanctions, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

“There are a few countries that we have engaged with to dissuade them from doing that,” Blinken said when asked whether he was aware of reports that some countries are increasing their energy imports from Russia amid Western sanctions.

Blinken also noted that the United States has doubled the LNG exports to Europe since the beginning of this year.

In 2021, Russia's imports to the European Union amounted to about 45% of gas, 27% of crude oil, and 46% of coal, according to the European Commission.

On 24 February, Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine after the breakaway republics of Donetsk and Lugansk requested help to defend them amid intensifying attacks by Ukrainian troops. Western countries and their allies responded by imposing comprehensive sanctions against Russia. The European Union has also vowed to reduce its dependency on Russian energy. On 8 April, the bloc announced the fifth package of anti-Russia sanctions that hich included a ban on imports of coal and other solid fossil fuels.