France talks tough on Ukraine while gobbling up more Russian gas – POLITICO Europe

France's economy ministry said the Russian LNG issue is neither about TotalEnergies' contract or activities, but about the opportunity and risks of imposing new sanctions for the entire European Union.

But experts arent buying it.

Nguyen, the analyst, laid out a multi-tiered argument. One, alternative imports do exist, two, French industry is now consistently using less gas since 2022 and three, national storage levels are higher than last year's. Taken together, that lowers the risks of supply shortages.

At the EU level, too, the bloc could replace its Russian imports with deliveries from places like the U.S., said Aura Sabadus, a senior gas market analyst at the ICIS market intelligence firm, even if an immediate LNG ban may lift prices.

The debate comes as the European Commission, the EUs executive, begins preparations for yet another sanctions package against Russia, its 14th.

But LNG is unlikely to feature in that package, despite repeated requests from the Baltic countries and Poland. Hungary has historically opposed measures on gas, and all 27 EU members must approve sanctions.

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France talks tough on Ukraine while gobbling up more Russian gas - POLITICO Europe