Vital supplies of US liquefied natural gas are due to start flowing into war-ravaged Ukraine this winter via a pipeline across the Balkans.
The deal was announced after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in Athens on Sunday. Greece is working to increase the flow of American LNG to its terminals to replace Russian gas in the region, Mitsotakis said recently.
The European Commission plans to ban all imports of Russian gas to EU member states by the end of 2027, arguing revenue from such sales funds Russia's war in Ukraine.
Zelensky is currently in France, where he and President Emmanuel Macron signed a letter of intent to buy up to 100 Rafale jets.
Fighting continued overnight, with six people reportedly killed in Russian attacks in the Kharkiv, Kherson, and Donetsk regions of Ukraine. Russia's military claims to have taken control of three more Ukrainian villages.
Speaking earlier in Athens, Zelensky announced that deliveries of US LNG would begin in January, emphasizing that each destruction by Russia requires significant rebuilding efforts.
Greece is becoming an energy security provider for your homeland, Mitsotakis told the Ukrainian president.
Zelensky noted that Kyiv had allocated nearly €2 billion to secure gas imports from European partners, ensuring supplies through March amidst fears of an energy crisis this winter.
Since 2015, when it stopped buying Russian gas directly, Ukraine has been receiving supplies from various EU states, with the Trans-Balkan pipeline linking Ukraine to LNG terminals in Greece.
The UN has issued warnings about the risks this winter as intensified attacks on energy networks in Ukraine severely impact the maintenance of warmth in homes, schools, and health centers.
