EU says dependence on fossil fuels is funding Russian 'war chest'

BRUSSELS – The European Union’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels is financing Russia’s “war chest”, the bloc’s environment policy chief said on Thursday.

“I don’t need to go deep into our dependency on fossil fuels, and how many billions every year we pay to Russian war chest,” EU environment commissioner Virginijus Sinkevicius told a news conference in Brussels.

“The less we’re dependent, the better it is for us,” he said, referring to Europe’s reliance on energy from Russia, which provides 40% of the bloc’s gas.