German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock has stated that her country will completely end its dependence on Russian oil and gas, reports Anadolu Agency (AA).
Speaking at an energy conference in Berlin, Baerbock criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin, stressing that his war against Ukraine has changed Germany’s geopolitics and security assessments.
“It caused a lot of suffering for millions of people, but it also made it clear that we need to be completely independent of Russian fuel imports,” Baerbock said.
The German foreign minister criticized her country’s previous governments for failing to take serious measures to reduce the country’s dependence on Russian gas, oil and coal imports.
She said the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014 led to discussions in Europe about changing energy imports, but according to her, governments did not take any major steps.
“And now we see the consequences of that in a very tragic way,” Baerbock said.
Russia supplies 55 percent of Germany’s natural gas, 35 percent of its oil and 45 percent of its coal.
Last week, the German government announced an ambitious plan to significantly reduce its long-standing energy dependence on Russia.
