How the EU's need for gas complicates the Russia-Ukraine crisis | DW News

Fears remain high that a Russian invasion of Ukraine is imminent, setting off a wider dispute between Moscow and the West. Including, potentially, over gas.

A spokesman for the Russian government said Monday that the country would not cut-off its supplies to Europe. But Moscow's leverage in energy-politics is hard to ignore: It's the largest single deliverer of natural gas to the EU – where demand is only set to rise.

Take a look at Germany: It's still very dependent on non-renewable energy sources like fossil fuels and nuclear. They account for around 56% of the total energy mix.

Almost a third of it comes from coal, 12% is from nuclear, with natural gas bringing in 14%. That figure is set to increase in the years ahead: Germany is phasing out nuclear power later this year and coal is to be phased out by 2038. Renewables are only gradually coming on the grid.

Right now, 55% of German gas imports come from Russia. That's a higher dependence than across the EU, where the average is 40% of imports from Russia.

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