Brussels (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – European Commission’s spokesperson for energy, Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, said that the European Union expects to conduct talks with the United States administration as it considers Donald Trump’s demands for the EU to purchase more U.S. fuel.
Anna-Kaisa Itkonen, responding to a question from POLITICO, said,
“The priority is to have a conversation, to engage early, discuss common interests, and then be ready to negotiate,”
The spokesperson warned that while the EU executive itself
“is not buying or selling LNG or any other fuels ourselves,”
its employees would converse with Trump officials.
“We need to establish contact with them and see how to move forward,”
She stated.
“But concretely, we are not starting from scratch — this has been something that, at the highest level both the EU and the U.S. have had discussions about LNG. What we’ve done over the years from the EU side is to make sure the LNG infrastructure is existing so that companies can buy this LNG.”
What has Ursula von der Leyen said about energy independence?
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has earlier supported the idea of purchasing more U.S. fuel to eliminate its Russian alternative.
“Why not replace it with American LNG, which is cheaper for us and brings down our energy prices?”
She stated in November.
“It’s something where we can get into a discussion, also [where] our trade deficit is concerned.”
Also, Ursula von der Leyen has emphasized the importance of energy independence and the need for a modernized energy infrastructure during her recent address at the World Economic Forum in Davos on January 21, 2025.
How has the US become the EU’s key LNG supplier?
As of January 2025, the US has emerged to be the EU’s second gas supplier while becoming the largest supplier of liquefied natural gas (LNG) due in large part because Russia has withdrawn its supplies upon invading Ukraine. In the current year so far, all EU countries are importing more than half of their liquefied gas from the US. This has naturally led to dialogues between both the EU officials and the officials of the U.S. towards increasing gas supplies from America to the EU countries.
