European Commission aims to halt imports of Russian LNG earlier, from start of 2027
The European Commission wants to halt imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) into the European Union from 1 January 2027, a year earlier than planned. That announced the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas, on Friday, as new sanctions against Russia were presented. The Belgian port of Zeebrugge is an important transit hub for Russian LNG.
“Our aim is to speed up the phase-out of Russian liquefied natural gas by 1 Jan 2027,” Kallas stated on social media. “Cash from energy sales keeps Russia’s war going,” she added. “We won’t stop putting pressure on Russia until it ends its war.”
The EU had been considering banning Russian gas imports for some time. Member states and the European Parliament are currently considering a draft regulation that would ban imports from 1 January 2028. If the new proposal is given the green light, the ban on Russian LNG would come into force a year earlier.
Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian gas supplies to the EU have already fallen sharply. In 2021, Russia still accounted for 45 per cent of gas imports, compared to 19 per cent last year. The Belgian port of Zeebrugge currently remains an important import destination for LNG, but mainly for transit to other countries. France, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain also continue to import Russian LNG. Hungary, Slovakia and Greece, on the other hand, receive gas via the TurkStream pipeline.
"We have been saving energy, diversifying supplies and investing in low-carbon sources of energy like never before"
European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen is convinced that the EU will be able to do without Russian LNG from the end of 2026. “We are prepared for this,” the German assured in a statement. "We have been saving energy, diversifying supplies and investing in low-carbon sources of energy like never before. Today, these efforts pay off.”
As part of a trade deal with US president Donald Trump, Von der Leyen also promised this summer to purchase 750 billion dollars worth of American LNG and other fuels over the next three years. In recent days, Trump has also repeatedly insisted that Russian energy supplies to Europe be stopped as soon as possible. This would be a condition for the White House to come up with new sanctions itself.
Trump also advocated higher European customs tariffs on imports from third countries that purchase Russian oil, such as China and India, but the Commission did not mention this on Friday when it presented its 19th package of sanctions. However, it is targeting companies that try to circumvent the sanctions. “We target refineries, oil traders, petrochemical companies in third countries, including China,” Von der Leyen said.
Illustration © PHOTO Loic VENANCE / AFP
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