Europe pledges to cut gas consumption as Russia cuts supplies

European countries reached an agreement on Tuesday to limit their consumption of natural gas for the next eight months to protect their economies from a possible cut in Russian supplies.

The agreement calls on countries to voluntarily reduce their gas consumption by 15% from next month, matching the level proposed by the European Union executive last week, and indicates that the target could become mandatory in the event emergency. But it contains important exclusions for countries with limited connections to other European gas networks and those whose electricity networks are not connected to the European system.