Putin's war funds severed as EU finally tables £254bn plan to slash ALL Russian energy

THE EU has finally put forward a plan to cut Russian oil and gas entirely by 2027 after months of mulling over sanctions amid the Ukraine war.

Russia: EU 'completely wrong' to rely on gas says Timmermans

The bloc has set aside a staggering €300billion (£254billion) so it can wean itself off Russian energy imports. Not only would this deal a huge blow to Vladimir Putin, who gets handed billions due to Europe’s huge dependence on his fossil fuels, but it could also help to slash bills further down the line. The REPowerEU plan has four main components - saving energy, switching Russian gas with other fossil fuels, and ramping up clean sources of energy.

It also involves investing in new gas infrastructures such as pipelines and liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminals.

Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said: "Today we’re taking our ambition to yet another level to make sure that we’ll be independent of Russian fossil fuels as quickly as possible

"REPowerEU will help us to save more energy, to accelerate phasing out of fossil fuel and most importantly to kick start investment on a new scale.

“This will be the speed charging of our European Green Deal."

She added: “Putin’s war is, as we all see, heavily disrupting the global energy market.

von der Leyen and Putin

The EU has tabled a masterplan to slash all of Putin's fossil fuels (Image: Getty )

Kadri Simson

Kadri Simson said measures should be put in place to limit the impacts of a shot-term supply cut (Image: Getty )

“We must now reduce as soon as possible our dependency on Russian fossil fuels. I’m deeply convinced we can.”

But while this may in the long-term help to curb soaring prices, bills may rise in the short term.

To limit the impacts of this, the Commission has urged member countries to introduce temporary measures to protect consumers and businesses.

Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson said: "As Russia pursues its unprovoked war in Ukraine, we must also plan for gas supply disruptions and their impact with solidarity measures and possible price interventions."

This comes after Putin sent prices across Europe soaring to record highs by limiting the volumes of gas travelling through pipelines into the continent, exacerbating the energy crisis.

READ MORE: Energy crisis: Europe is sitting on enough gas reserves to replace ...

Russian gas in Europe

Brussels claims it can replace 60 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian gas (Image: Express)

This affected Britain too, as although it only gets five percent of its gas from Russia, felt the shocks of the integrated market.

But now, this looks set to change as Brussels claims it can replace 60 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian gas with supplies from alternative producers such as US and countries in the Middle East.

The Commission also wants to ramp up the bloc's 2030 binding energy savings target from nine percent to 13 percent and to cut oil and gas demand by five percent by getting people to use less energy.

This also comes after Russia had warned “unfriendly” countries that they had until March 31 to pay for Russian gas in rubles or else he would tear up supply contracts.

But the EU largely rejected this demand as it would undermine sanctions.

DON'T MISS 
Sweden can deploy 'more than 1,000' fighter planes to help Ukraine [REVEAL] 
Finland sends defiant message to Russia after voting to join NATO [REPORT] 
Energy crisis deepens as UK turns away critical supplies [INSIGHT] 

Orban

Hungary has opposed the EU's proposal for an oil embargo (Image: Getty )

And Putin showed he was willing to stick to his threat when he temporarily cut off Poland and Bulgaria’s pipeline gas.

This also comes after the Commission proposed a Russian oil embargo.

While REPowerEU details the plot to scupper energy links by 2027, the proposed embargo would see all Russian oil banned from Europe by the end of the year.

But this has yet to come into effect as Hungary is opposing the ban, and every nation of the 27 bloc needs to be in agreement.

EU imports from Russia

The EU imported a staggering €48.5billion (£38billion) of crude oil in 2021 (Image: Express)

Perhaps in an attempt to convince Hungary, Ms von der Leyen wants €2 billion (£1.7billion) of the REPowerEU funds to be spent on oil infrastructure to help landlocked eastern countries part ways with Russian crude.

Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto argued earlier this week that it would cost €18billion (£15.2billion) for Budapest to move completely away from Russian oil supplies.

If an oil embargo went through, it could deal a hammer blow to Putin’s energy empire.

Last year, the EU imported a staggering €48.5billion (£38billion) of crude oil in 2021, and €22.5billion (£19billion) of petroleum oils other than crude from Russia.

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?