European energy ministers have agreed an EU-wide plan to cut gas consumption in case of a complete shut-off of Russian supplies.
As part of the deal, the 27 EU nations on Tuesday vowed to slash 45bn cubic metres in gas use between August 1 and March 31, equivalent to a 15 per cent decrease from the bloc’s average consumption over the previous five years. Only Hungary, whose foreign minister visited Russia last week to request more gas deliveries, voted against the deal in the council.
The deal comes as gas prices across the bloc have soared after Russian state-owned energy company Gazprom said flows through the crucial Nord Stream 1 pipeline to Germany would drop because of alleged turbine maintenance issues.