OTTAWA – Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says that while the Russian invasion may be driving up energy prices, it is still providing the impetus to drive the world towards developing greener energy sources.
Trudeau says he has discussed helping Europe cope with its dependency on Russian energy supplies, including during his visit to Germany earlier this month where he and Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed greater co-operation on developing hydrogen as a clean energy source.
Trudeau says today the G7 is pushing back on Russian demands on oil and gas access to an energy-dependent Europe.
Germany’s energy minister says the G7 has no intention of giving into Russia’s demand that countries pay for natural gas exports in rubles.
While Canada and its western allies have been tightening an economic noose around the Russian economy with sanctions and other trade measures since Moscow’s Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, banning Russian energy in Europe has been problematic.
That’s because Europe receives 40 per cent of its gas and 25 per cent of its oil from Russia.