The European Union's foreign affairs chief Josep Borrell and his American counterpart, Secretary of State Antony Blinken, are delivering speeches in Washington, where EU and US representatives are attending the US-EU Energy Council. The format, which first started in 2009, will reportedly be devoted to two topics this year: climate change and European energy security.
The two sides are to discuss broader efforts to reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and other ways of fighting climate change. They will also discuss finding alternative sources of natural gas for Europe in light of the ongoing tensions in Ukraine exacerbated by the West's allegations that Russia is possibly planning to "invade" it. Last year, the EU faced soaring gas prices amid a shortage of global LNG supplies, big domestic demand, and failure to fill up European gas reservoirs in time before winter.