Since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, Germany has been trying to reduce energy supplies from Russia.

According to Federal Economics Minister Robert Habeck (Greens), things are going well.

In some cases, the Russian share is already falling.

Germany is supposed to be independent of Russian hard coal by autumn and “virtually independent” of Russian oil imports by the end of the year.

But Habeck expects natural gas deliveries for another two years.

It will only be possible to become largely independent of Russian gas by mid-2024.

Habeck said on Friday that important milestones had been reached in order to break free from the grip of Russian imports.

"It is the great consensus of the international community to make themselves independent of Russian energy supplies in order to put a stop to Putin's handicraft." It is particularly difficult when it comes to gas supplies.

In recent years, the Russian share of natural gas deliveries in Germany and Europe has been around half.

According to estimates, this fell to around 40 percent in Germany in the first three months of this year because other countries are supplying more.

Three floating LNG terminals should help.

The energy companies RWE and Uniper have opted for these systems for liquid gas on behalf of the federal government, as Habeck announced.

While natural gas from Russia mainly comes to Germany through pipelines through Eastern Europe, liquid gas from America, Canada or Qatar is transported by ship.

So far, Germany itself has no reception infrastructure for this, but is dependent on corresponding terminals abroad, such as in the Netherlands.

As a result, the government is now striving to rapidly build domestic LNG terminals to accommodate more LNG than before.

At the same time, Habeck sees himself in an exchange with the Netherlands that Germany will receive more capacity through their plants.

The United States of America wants to supply more liquid gas to the EU this year.

This was announced by US President Joe Biden together with EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen on Friday in Brussels.

According to the Commission, this should replace around a third of current gas imports from Russia.

However, there is talk of an additional 15 billion cubic meters of LNG this year, which is less than five percent of the total consumption in the EU.

Habeck promises more progress for oil and coal.

“Companies let contracts with Russian suppliers expire, don't renew them and switch to other suppliers.

And that at an insane pace.” By the middle of this year, “Russian oil imports to Germany will probably be halved,” said the minister.

By the end of the year, the aim is to be "almost independent" of Russian oil.

The dependence on coal will drop from 50 to around 25 percent in the coming weeks, Habeck said.

By early summer, the majority of operators will be doing without Russian hard coal entirely, and by autumn it will be possible to become independent of Russian hard coal.

With gas, the process takes a little longer.

Habeck emphasized that an embargo is currently not possible.

The economic and social consequences would still be too serious.

"But every supply contract that is terminated harms Putin," he said.

The Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection presented a progress report on energy security on Friday.