EU could phase out Russian gas imports by end of 2027

The European Commission has signaled willingness to buy more U.S. LNG to replace Russian volumes, a step President Donald Trump has demanded.

The European Commission will next month propose legal measures to phase out the EU’s imports of all Russian gas and liquefied natural gas by the end of 2027, it said on Tuesday.

The European Union vowed to end its decades-old energy relations with former top gas supplier Russia after Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The Commission outlined how it plans to do this in a “roadmap” published on Tuesday.

The EU executive will present a legal proposal in June to ban remaining Russian gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) imports under existing contracts by end-2027, it said.

The Commission will also propose in June a ban on Russian gas imports under new deals and existing spot contracts by the end of 2025.

“It is now time for Europe to completely cut off its energy ties with an unreliable supplier. And energy that comes to our continent should not pay for a war of aggression against Ukraine,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said in a statement.

A draft of the EU roadmap was previously reported by Reuters.

The U.S. is pushing Russia for a peace deal with Ukraine, which, if reached, may reopen the door for Russian energy and ease sanctions. But while executives in some EU industries have signaled support for a return to Russian gas, the EU is pressing ahead with efforts to cut decades-old energy ties with Moscow.

Around 19 per cent of Europe’s gas still comes from Russia, via the TurkStream pipeline and liquefied natural gas shipments – down from roughly 45 per cent  before 2022.