The place of energy in the commercial and political relations of The Russian Federation and the European Union

Global energy consumption is increasing day by day. With the shrinking energy resources, economies with insufficient energy reserves struggle to dominate energy reserves and have to import energy to meet their energy needs. The European Union (EU) is uncomfortable with the use of Russians as a diplomatic tool for its natural gas and oil-based energy needs, especially during the Russia-Ukraine war and tries to reduce its dependence. The Russian Federation (RF), whose economy is growing with the income from the export of energy resources, aims to protect its national security and interests in the region while implementing policies that will ensure the sustainability of energy exports. For this reason, most of the energy exports try to stay in cooperation with EU countries and follow policies in order not to lose their power in its immediate surroundings. Energy trade is a longstanding branch of EU-RF relations. RF is the main supplier of oil, gas and solid fuels to the EU. The EU's demand for reliable energy sources from abroad and Russia's desire to benefit from its extensive fossil fuel resources have led to a strong interdependence in the energy sector. Within the framework of the research, a wide range of issues related to energy cooperation between RF and the EU were discussed. RF and EU import-export figures, their energy reserves, the political, various commercial and cultural agreements they signed. The role of RF and the EU in global energy, the main aspects and trends of energy dialogue between them, problems and expectations, the importance of energy cooperation at the current stage, energy efficiency, energy security, geopolitical and geo-economic aspects of cooperation are also examined. In first the chapter the history of the RF, its energy resources and potential are mentioned. In the second chapter the establishment of the EU, its energy reserves and policies, the countries with which it cooperates and depends on energy are examined. In the third chapter, the history of Russia-EU relations, natural gas pipelines connecting them, cooperation, crises in their relations and proposals are discussed. In the conclusion chapter, the results we reached in our study were evaluated. Keywords: EU, Russia, Russia-EU energy relations, Natural Gas Pipelines, Energy Policies.