Austria: EU should consider resuming Russian gas imports after peace is reached in Ukraine

While the European Commission has been working in recent weeks, months and years to further restrict flows of Russian gas to Europe, not all EU member states oppose importing gas from Russia. According to a representative of the Austrian government, the EU should be open to the possibility of resuming gas supplies if peace is achieved in Ukraine. In the past, Austria, like much of Central and Eastern Europe, met most of its gas needs with supplies from Russia.

This week, the European Commission presented a plan to gradually end imports of Russian gas and oil into the EU. For new contracts concluded from mid-June this year, the ban on gas imports would take effect on 1 January next year. Imports under existing contracts would then be phased out by the end of 2027. Some EU representatives, however, are already talking about the possibility of resuming supplies if Russia and Ukraine reach a peace deal.

"We will systematically consider all proposals and then decide on our position. But it is already clear that once the war is definitively over, this is something we should take into account when assessing the situation in the future," said Elisabeth Zehetner, a deputy minister at Austria's Ministry of Energy, at the beginning of the week.

Other diplomats told Reuters that Zehetner had emphasized the possibility of resuming supplies in the event of a peace deal during a closed-door meeting. However, no representative of another EU country expressed support for a similar initiative.

Just a day after Zehetner's remarks, however, Austria's ministry told Reuters that the country clearly condemns Russia's invasion of Ukraine and supports the proposed ban on Russian gas imports. Even so, the ministry is keeping the door "open" when it comes to importing Russian gas.

"The claim that Austria wants to resume importing Russian gas after the war, let alone now, is simply false. In the long term... the EU should keep its options open so that it can reassess the situation after the war ends and configure its energy supplies safely and cost-effectively in the future," the Austrian ministry said, according to Reuters.

On Monday, European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jorgensen said, according to Reuters, that resuming imports of Russian gas in the future would be very unwise, even if a peace agreement were reached between Ukraine and Russia. In his view, it would mean "repeating the mistakes we made in the past".