EU Officials Discuss Restart of Russian Gas as Part of Ukraine Peace Deal

EU Officials Discuss Restart of Russian Gas as Part of Ukraine Peace Deal | OilPrice.com

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Breaking News:

ByTsvetana Paraskova– Jan 30, 2025, 6:05 AM CST

Some European Union officials have endorsed an idea to restart Russian pipeline gas supply to the EU as part of a possible peace deal for Ukraine, sources with knowledge of the talks have told the Financial Times.

Russian pipeline gas supply via Ukraine stopped on January 1, 2025, after Ukraine refused to negotiate an extension to the transit deal.

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At 0500 GMT on New Year’s Day, Russian gas giant Gazprom halted pipeline deliveries, and the last remaining EU members that were still receiving gas from Russia via Ukraine until December 31 – Austria, Slovakia, and Hungary – lost this source of supply.

Hungary continues to receive Russian gas via the TurkStream gas pipeline via Turkey and the Balkans, while Austria and Slovakia have arranged to have natural gas from other sources supplied.

Now the idea to resume Russian gas flows, reportedly endorsed by some EU officials from Hungary and Germany, has created a backlash among other EU officials and among Ukraine’s staunchest allies in the bloc. The talks have also caused concern and confusion among U.S. LNG developers and exporters who are preparing to boost their sales to Europe, according to FT’s sources.

The proponents of a return to Russian gas as part of a peace deal in Ukraine argue that Russian supply would help lower energy costs in the EU that have been burdening households and depressing industrial production since 2022.

However, the idea of reviving gas supply from Russia is being met with strong resistance from other EU officials who argue that Putin shouldn’t be given leeway to increase Moscow’s energy revenues and restore energy supply and security leverage over Europe.

An EU official furious with the idea of letting Russia sell its gas in Europe again told the FT “It’s madness.”

“How stupid could we be to even think about that as an option?” the official added.

Talks about this idea have emerged as some EU members are also pushing for a ban on imports of Russian LNG amid soaring imports in the bloc in recent months.

By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com

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