European Union countries are close to reaching an agreement to ban the import of Russian natural gas by the end of 2027.

date
14:50 20/10/2025
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GMT Eight
The European energy ministers plan to reach a common position on banning all natural gas supplies from Russia by the end of 2027.
Energy ministers from EU countries aim to reach a common position on plans to ban all Russian natural gas supplies by the end of 2027, signaling the alliance's effort to end its energy dependency on Moscow. Officials from various countries held a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday to further discuss the legislation. The law will first prohibit the import of Russian natural gas based on existing short-term contracts starting in mid-June, with exceptions granted to landlocked countries like Hungary and Slovakia. Long-term contracts will be banned after 18 months. Europe has been under pressure from the United States to speed up the disconnection from Russian energy and purchase more American liquefied natural gas. A joint statement on EU-US trade promises $750 billion in energy trade over the next three years. EU Energy Commissioner Kadri Simson stated last week, "We are closely cooperating with the US government in the field of energy and diversifying our natural gas imports." The EU ban requires the support of a specific majority of member states to pass, so even with critics like Hungary and Slovakia opposing it, the plan is expected to go through. Negotiations with the European Parliament are also necessary, as they are calling for a quicker exit from Russian gas and a halt on Russian oil imports from next year. The goal is to reach a final agreement by the end of the year. Since Russian President Putin's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU has been pursuing a dual-track strategy to ultimately break away from its dependency on Russian fossil fuels. In addition to the "RepowerEU" ban, the European Commission has proposed banning the import of Russian liquefied natural gas by the end of the year. Leaders of various countries are likely to discuss this issue at a Brussels meeting later this week. Approximately 15% of the EU's liquefied natural gas supply comes from Russia, making it the second largest supplier in Europe after the US, with monthly imports ranging between 500 million to 700 million euros. Most of the issues related to the ban that ministers need to resolve on Monday involve technical details, including how to implement pre-authorization for natural gas imports into the EU. Ministers will also discuss the energy situation in Ukraine and the EU's electrification plan.