Qatar’s Minister of State for Energy Affairs Saad Al-Kaabi said in a press conference after the Gas Exporting Countries Forum Summit that the volume of gas supplies from Russia to Europe at the present time cannot be compensated by any country.

He added that with the current conditions in Ukraine and in Europe, everyone is thinking of finding an alternative to Russian gas, and it is now often said that Qatari gas can replace Russian gas. In this regard, 40% of gas supplies to Europe come from Russia, and “I believe that no country can supply gas to Europe in the quantities that Russia currently supplies to Europe”.

Before that, the Qatari minister indicated that gas-producing countries do not agree to impose economic sanctions on any of the forum’s member states outside the framework of the United Nations.

Earlier, the European Commissioner for Energy, Kadri Simpson, stressed the need not to rely on foreign energy supplies to the European Union. She explained that the European Commission is studying different scenarios for gas supplies in the event that Russia partially or completely restricts its exports to Europe.

European concerns come despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s assertion that the expansion of the use of natural gas as one of the most environmentally friendly fuels has become very common during the period of energy development, and that Russia intends to continue the continuous supply of gas, including liquefied natural gas, to global market