The European Union has announced that it was able to overcome dependence on Russian energy sources thanks to the EU's plan to reduce gas consumption.

"Over the past year, Europe has realised its ambitions according to the plan to end dependence on Russian energy. Now we can say that we are no longer dependent on them," said Tim McPhie, European Commission spokesman, at a briefing.

According to him, the EU has stopped importing Russian coal. Oil from the Russian Federation will be only a small fraction of the volume that was before the full-scale war against Ukraine unleashed by Moscow.

He also added that "Russian gas is rapidly disappearing from the European market."

The EU plan to reduce gas consumption for all the European Union by 15% to cope with the gas crisis due to the war with Russia, began to operate last year in August.

According to the plan, EU countries had to cut gas use by 15% from August to March, compared with their average consumption in the same period during 2016-2021.

This year, the European Commission decided to offer the EU countries to voluntarily continue reducing gas consumption by 15% in the future.

On May 24, the European Commission recommended that all EU governments end support measures for energy prices by the end of this year to keep public finances in check and stay in line with proposed new fiscal rules in 2024.