Sen. John Hoeven (R-ND) says one way for the US and its allies in Europe to send a message to Russia is through energy.
Hoeven says Russia provides about a third of Europe’s energy. He and Senator John Warner have a plan that includes more export of liquefied natural gas from the US to the European Union – which they say will help reduce Europe’s dependence on Russian energy. Hoeven says there are several applications pending for LNG production and manufacture – and he says those should be approved as soon as possible. Hoeven says any prohibitions on exporting the natural gas to countries that we don't have trade agreements with should be lifted. And he says President Obama needs to work with our European allies.
"The President is going to be in Brussels next week, meeting with the EU," said Hoeven. "We need a US-EU plan to address energy, so when the President is over there, he can get a strategic plan going to address the energy issue."
Hoeven says it will send a clear message to Vladimir Putin that the EU countries don’t need Russia.