EU leaders meet for 2nd day to discuss energy crisis, China, Ukraine

By Rabia Iclal Turan

ISTANBUL (AA) - EU leaders on Friday are meeting for the second day of talks in Brussels to discuss measures to tackle high energy prices, reduce their dependency on China and Russia's war on Ukraine among other issues.

Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin told reporters in a doorstep statement ahead of the meeting that Russia is using energy as a “weapon against Europe.”

Asked about the EU’s relations with China, Marin said the discussion does not mean “there cannot be any economic relations with China”.

“But we shouldn't be building that kind of strategic, critical dependencies on authoritarian countries. And I think technology is key here,” she said.

Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karin, on the other hand, said the EU needs a “united approach to China.”

“What's important for us is that we speak with China, and we make sure that China is on the right side of history regarding Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine,” he told reporters.

On the first day of the summit, the leaders discussed the ways to cope Europe’s energy crisis. They, however, failed to reach an agreement whether to put a ceiling price on natural gas after hours of debate.

Fifteen EU members, including France, Italy, Spain, and Belgium, seek a price cap on imported natural gas, but Germany, the Netherlands, Denmark and some countries do not support this idea.

The countries opposing the price cap say it would jeopardize the security of energy supply and could harm the natural gas supply, especially in the winter months.