Liz Truss says countries ‘especially dependent’ on Russian energy could get COMPENSATION for severing oil and gas links with Moscow as she warns the West can no longer leave its economies ‘at the mercy of malign actors’

• Foreign Secretary Liz Truss said West must end ‘strategic dependence’ on Russia
• She said countries could get compensation for severing energy ties with Russia
• Ms Truss said the invasion of Ukraine is a ‘paradigm shift on the scale of 9/11’

Liz Truss on Thursday suggested countries which are ‘especially dependent’ on Russian energy could be handed compensation for severing gas and oil ties with Moscow.  

The Foreign Secretary said the West must end its ‘strategic dependence’ on Russian energy because it can no longer afford to be ‘at the mercy of malign actors’.  

Britain and the US announced on Tuesday they will phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of the year as part of increased sanctions against Vladimir Putin following his invasion of Ukraine. 

But Ms Truss, who is currently on an official visit to the US, said the West is still ‘not doing enough’ and must ‘double down’ to increase the pressure on the Russian President. 

Delivering a speech this evening at the Atlantic Council think tank in Washington DC, Ms Truss said additional action could include imposing strict limits on Russian energy imports. 

She also said the West ‘should look at potential compensation for countries that are especially dependent on Russian energy’. 

It is unclear how such a compensation scheme would be paid for but it could see larger nations pooling resources to help smaller allies weather the cost of turning off Russian energy supplies. 

Liz Truss on Thursday suggested countries which are ‘especially dependent’ on Russian energy could be handed compensation for severing gas and oil ties with Moscow

Ms Truss said that in the late 1990s she had worked for Shell in the US and at the time ‘we thought energy crises, expansionism and geopolitical strife were behind us’.

She said much of the West believed the ‘spread of peace and stability was inevitable’ but Mr Putin’s attack on Ukraine means ‘those illusions have been shattered’. 

Declaring that the ‘era of complacency is over’, Ms Truss said: ‘We must pledge that never again will we allow such aggression to grow unchecked.’ 

Ms Truss said the UK, the US and allies had ‘done a huge amount’ to punish Russia following the invasion but she argued ‘we are not doing enough’. 

‘We must double down and ramp up the global pressure on Putin,’ she said.

Calling for more action on energy, Ms Truss said: ‘First, we must end the strategic dependence which puts our economies and security at the mercy of malign actors.

‘Europe remains deeply reliant on Russian energy. This provides a vital source of revenue for Putin – so it must end.’ 

She said she welcomed the EU’s plan to reduce its imports of Russian gas by two thirds this year, with the G7 working to ‘cut this dependence once and for all’.

She said: ‘We should put a ceiling on the percentage of Russian energy imports. We should commit to bringing them down over time. 

‘And we should look at potential compensation for countries that are especially dependent on Russian energy.

Britain and the US announced on Tuesday they will phase out imports of Russian oil by the end of the year as part of increased sanctions against Vladimir Putin following his invasion of Ukraine

‘This will require a shared commitment. It will require greater investment in new energy infrastructure and for producers to be willing to export more. I welcome President Biden’s commitment to release 30million barrels from the US Strategic Petroleum Reserve.

‘We should also be exploring other possible areas of dependence. Whether it’s minerals or rare earth metals, we should work to prevent future problems before they emerge.’ 

Ms Truss said the Russian invasion of Ukraine ‘has shaken the architecture of global security’. 

She added: ‘The invasion of Ukraine is a paradigm shift on the scale of 9/11. How we respond today will set the pattern for this new era.’ 

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