US and European energy leaders in Greece to talk ways to better supply Ukraine

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ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Energy ministers from the United States and European countries were holding talks Thursday in Greece on how to use a newly upgraded regional pipeline network to better supply war-torn Ukraine as the Trump administration seeks to further ramp up gas exports to Europe.

U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright and Interior Secretary Doug Burgum were attending the meeting in Athens, hosted by the Atlantic Council, the Washington-based think tank. They were joined by more than 80 U.S. officials, European Union energy ministers, and executives from leading American liquified natural gas companies.

President Donald Trump is seeking to use America’s position as the world’s top exporter of liquified natural gas to press the EU to buy more U.S. gas, linking energy exports to broader trade negotiations. With Europe already the largest market for American LNG, attention has shifted to the so-called Vertical Corridor, a north-south gas route linking Greece with Bulgaria and Romania. Wright welcomed plans by the European Commission to phase out all Russian gas supplies to the EU over the next two years, saying it will “both starve the Russian war machine and build a growing future relationship” between European nations and the United States.

“They have five pipelines that come to Europe and one pipeline that goes to China,” he said, referring to Russia.

Following Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, EU members scrambled to modify pipeline networks to replace Russian exports with LNG provided by the U.S. and other major suppliers. The Vertical Corridor relies on LNG terminals near Athens and in northern Greece.

“Greece is blessed with a very unique geographic location, and we are the natural entry point for American liquefied natural gas into Europe,” Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis said at talks late Wednesday with the visiting U.S. officials.

“The vertical corridor is a project of great geopolitical and economic importance to us," he said. "We’re happy that it’s becoming a reality.” Separately on Thursday, Exxon Mobil and Greek energy firms Helleniq Energy and Energean announced a partnership for oil-and-gas exploration in the Ionian Sea off Greece's western coast.