The European Union, despite efforts spanning decades to reduce its dependence on fossil fuels, has continued to import substantial levels of natural gas from Russia. The reliance on Russian natural gas has reportedly reached unprecedented levels, partly due to the bloc’s policies which have inadvertently supported this growth.

Within the first half of this year, E.U. nations imported 9.89 million tons of liquefied natural gas from Russia’s Yamal LNG, marking an 18 percent increase compared to the same period in the previous year.