The International Energy Agency urged the EU to sign no new supply contracts with Gazprom as it set out a 10-point plan to reduce the region’s imports of Russian gas by a third within a year.

Gas import contracts covering more than 15 billion cubic metres (bcm) of annual gas, roughly 12 per cent of Russian supplies into Europe, are due to expire this year and should not be renewed, Fatih Birol, IEA executive director said at a press conference with EU officials on Thursday.

Russia, which provides as much as 40 per cent of Europe’s gas, was using its resources “as an economic and political weapon” Birol said, making it more important than ever to reduce the EU’s dependence on Russian supplies and hasten the region’s transition to greener fuels.