US proposed resuming Russian gas sales to EU, but Moscow says it is not yet possible

The United States proposed resuming Russian gas supplies to Europe via a pipeline running through Ukraine during September talks in Moscow and Kyiv. The Wall Street Journal reported this today, citing several unnamed sources in the United States, Ukraine and other European countries. Under the proposal, sales would be handled through US intermediaries. Moscow says a plan to resume gas sales to the EU is currently unfeasible.

Since last year, Ukraine has not allowed Russian gas to be supplied to EU countries through its territory. Hungary and Slovakia, however, continue to receive Russian gas via the TurkStream pipeline. Current EU legislation, adopted after the start of the war in Ukraine, envisages ending Russian gas supplies via pipelines in the second half of next year.

According to The Wall Street Journal, US negotiators Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff proposed resuming Russian gas supplies through Ukrainian territory during talks in Moscow and Kyiv in September, as part of a broader energy truce agreement. The US negotiators said a return to the European natural gas market could be a major incentive for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a deal.

Revenue from renewed gas sales to Europe would go into a special account in a third country, so Russia could not use the money to finance its aggression against Ukraine, the newspaper reported. US officials said resuming gas transit through Ukraine to Slovakia could also cover part of Austria's or Germany's consumption and could lead to lower energy prices. A broader deal to end the war in Ukraine and determine relations with Russia could also include the resumption of operations at the Nord Stream pipelines, which were damaged in explosions in 2022.

"Everything will depend on the wishes of buyers and the wishes and capabilities of sellers," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today, according to the TASS news agency, when asked about the possibility of resuming Russian gas sales to the EU through Ukrainian territory.

"The gas market is much bigger than Europe. Although the European market is a premium one," he added. Peskov said, however, that implementing such plans was impossible in the current situation. He did not rule out resuming gas sales to the EU via Ukraine in the future.

The European Union has significantly reduced its purchases from Russia since the start of the war in Ukraine and does not plan to increase them significantly even after the war ends. "I certainly wouldn't trust Russia," European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen said in October. US officials, however, believe that EU countries will ultimately be less rigid in their positions than their current official statements suggest, according to The Wall Street Journal.