EU agrees to phase out Russian gas imports

Global News Podcast

BBC

News, Daily News

4.2 • 7.8K Ratings

🗓️ 3 December 2025

⏱️ 27 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Despite their support for Ukraine, European countries have been a significant market for Russian energy. But an agreement has now been reached between the European Council and the European Parliament to phase out imports of Russian gas. The announcement came as it emerged peace talks between the US and Russia had failed, once again, to produce a breakthrough. Also in this episode - France's President, Emmanuel Macron, has arrived in Beijing for an official visit that will also take him to the city of Chengdu. The search for missing Malaysia Airlines flight MH-370 will resume this month. A new draft law on conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews has sparked uproar in Israel. The American city of San Francisco is to file the nation’s first government lawsuit against manufacturers of ultra-processed food. The BBC investigates the dramatic rise in online abuse towards football players and managers in the Premier League and Women's Super League. And a man in New Zealand is being questioned after allegedly swallowing a Faberge diamond pendant, in an attempt to smuggle it out of a jewellery store.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This is the Global News Podcasts.
0:05.6	This is the Global News podcast from the BBC World Service.
0:11.4	I'm Julia McFarlane and at 16 hours GMT on Wednesday the 3rd of December, these are our main stories.
0:19.0	EU chief Ursula von der Leyen says the EU has reached a deal to end Russian gas imports by
0:24.6	27.
0:26.5	Talks in Moscow between President Putin and US negotiators failed to lead to any breakthroughs,
0:32.4	but the Kremlin says it's wrong to suggest the president has rejected peace.
0:37.2	And President Macron of France has arrived in China, where he's wrong to suggest the president has rejected peace.
0:42.1	And President Macron of France has arrived in China, where he's expected to urge President Xi to do more to end the war in Ukraine.
0:47.3	Also in this podcast, the crisis over conscripting ultra-Orthodox Jews into the Israeli army.
0:54.1	After two years of war, the country is
0:56.5	increasingly divided. I don't think, like, however religious you are should be an excuse not to go
1:02.0	and serve your country. If you're born here, I find it quite ridiculous how you want to exempt yourself
1:06.4	just because you want to study Torah all day.
1:16.8	Russia has been funding its war in Ukraine largely through its export of oil and gas.
1:23.7	And despite their support for Ukraine, European countries are still a significant market for Russian energy.
1:28.9	Now a provisional agreement has been reached between the European Council and the European Parliament to phase out imports of Russian gas. The President of the EU Commission, Ursula von der Leyen,
1:35.5	says it's the dawn of a new era. Today is indeed a historic day for our Union. Last night,
1:43.8	we reached a provisional agreement on the Commission's
1:46.5	proposal to fully phase out Russian fossil fuels. We're turning that page, and we're turning
1:53.8	it for good. This is the dawn of a new era, the era of Europe's full energy independence from Russia.
2:03.3	The Kremlin, though, says the EU's ban will only accelerate the bloc's power decline.
	...

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