The European Union may gradually stop buying Russian gas within six months or a year.
„I think this could easily be done within 12 months, maybe even six“, said US Energy Secretary Chris Wright after his meeting with European Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen, quoted by Reuters.
„I don't know if it will happen, but it was discussed at the meeting with the European Commissioner“, added Wright. 13% of EU gas imports are expected to come from Russia in 2025.
The European Commission has previously presented initiatives to wean itself off Russian gas. The roadmap states its intention to ban new Russian gas import deals and spot contracts by the end of 2025. The EC also wants to ban purchases of pipeline and liquefied natural gas from Russia by the end of 2027. The final legally binding proposals must be approved by the EU member states in the Council of the EU. Hungary and Slovakia have said they will vote against the plan.
In May 2022, the EU launched the REPowerEU program, aimed at ending the “gas dependency“ from Russia by 2027. At the same time, the cost of purchasing Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) for the European Union has increased almost 4.6 times in three years due to rising prices. By 2022, Russian gas accounted for 40% of the EU's total imports of this energy source, by 2023 its share decreased to about 15%, but in 2024 it began to grow again and reached almost 19%, which caused discontent among European bureaucrats.