BAKU: The European Union’s energy commissioner visited Azerbaijan on Friday in an effort to diversify the continent’s energy sources and reduce dependency on Russian gas as tensions with Moscow soar over Ukraine.

Energy commissioner Kadri Simson met with Azerbaijan’s authoritarian leader Ilham Aliyev to discuss ramping up supplies from the energy-rich Caucasus country.

Officials from other European countries as well as the United Kingdom and the United States were also part of the delegation.

Simson and Aliyev discussed the Southern Gas Corridor (SCG), a route that brings supplies from the Caspian Sea to Europe and has been operational since 2020.

Western claims that Moscow is plotting to attack Ukraine have led to fears that Moscow could suspend its gas deliveries to Europe.

Some in the EU have accused Russia of orchestrating an energy crisis with the aim of putting pressure on Western countries.