Ukraine has received its first-ever shipment of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the United States, marking a pivotal step in Ukraine’s efforts to cut energy supply ties with Russia amid dismal relations between the two warring neighbors.
The LNG shipment—around 45,000 tons—was delivered to Ukraine via a Greek terminal in the Mediterranean on Dec. 27, according to DTEK, Ukraine’s largest private energy firm. While the United States supplies roughly 40 percent of Europe’s LNG imports, this is the first direct purchase of U.S.-sourced LNG by Ukraine.
While European countries have been reducing their reliance on gas imports from Russia since its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, LNG transiting Ukrainian territory still accounts for roughly 5 percent of the European Union’s (EU) imports….