EU wants to ban Russian gas imports
The European Union will propose measures to prohibit Russian gas imports by the end of 2027, as the block is pushing to capture the relationship with the country that was once its largest energy supplier.
The EU continues its long -cherished intention to advance the exit from Russian fossil fuels after moving the publication of her « timetable » at the beginning of the year. At that time, she only wanted to evaluate the effects of the US efforts to terminate the war in Ukraine. The Russian gas deliveries to Europe decreased sharply after the full invasion of Moscow in 2022, but Russia remains an important supplier due to a pipeline via Turkey and deliveries of liquid gas.
The EU plans to propose a ban on all gas purchases in the context of new contracts with Russia and existing spot contracts in June, which are about a third of imports, which should come into force before the end of the year.
The European Commission, the EU’s executive, will also decide on the next month to end the remaining imports of Russian pipeline and LNG gas that are bound in long-term contracts. At the end of 2027, gas imports from Russia would end.
The efforts to end the dependence on Russian gas will pave the way for US suppliers to deliver more LNG to Europe, which has repeatedly demanded President Donald Trump. However, the EU assumes that its plan will only have a limited impact on prices, since a wave of new LNG deliveries will come to the world market in the coming years.
In 2024, the EU bought Russian energy deliveries with a total value of 23 billion euros and thus exceeded its military aid for Ukraine last year. Russian imports still made up 19 percent of total gas purchases of the 27 countries in the past year.
