The United States and the European Union are exploring ways to further reduce Europe's dependence on Russian energy, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on Tuesday.

"Russia's weaponization of energy is underscoring the urgency of that task and an opportunity to accelerate our progress (in the global clean energy transition)," Blinken told reporters after a meeting with EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell in Brussels.

"We will focus on how we can further reduce European dependence on Russian energy and boost the Euro-Atlantic region's clean energy production," he said. (Reporting by Sabine Siebold, Jan Strupczewski, Simon Lewis, Kate Abnett, Andrew Gray)