Trump eyes Russian gas return to Europe despite past warnings over dependence
The proposal is part of wider efforts to advance peace negotiations, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing officials from the US, Europe and Ukraine.
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff raised the proposal during their visits to Moscow and Kyiv in September, people familiar with the discussions told the WSJ. The US is exploring a plan to bring Russian natural gas back into the European market through pipelines crossing Ukraine, in a bid to secure an energy truce between Moscow and Kyiv before winter. The arrangement could see a US intermediary handle the sale of Russian gas, potentially bypassing European sanctions while giving American investors a stake in the business.
EU legislation requires member states to phase out all Russian natural gas purchases by the end of 2027. The proposal had lost momentum last month after Ukraine halted attacks on Russian refineries following pressure from US President Donald Trump . The idea faces a major obstacle: Europe’s stated policy of ending its reliance on Russian energy. Several European leaders have also ruled out returning to dependence on supplies from a country they consider a major security threat. Yet Washington believes the prospect of reopening a lucrative European market could persuade Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to an energy ceasefire. The proposed route would use the Soviet-era pipeline system connecting Siberia’s Urengoi gas fields to Europe through Ukraine. The pause lasted nearly two weeks, even as Russian strikes on Ukraine’s energy infrastructure continued and Moscow began sending diesel to the US. Washington subsequently turned its attention to the possibility of negotiating a wider peace settlement.
His administration imposed sanctions on the pipeline in late 2019. Another senior official from a large European country likened the proposal to former British leader Neville Chamberlain sacrificing Czechoslovakia to Hitler in exchange for business deals, the WSJ reported.
During his first term, he repeatedly criticised then-German Chancellor Angela Merkel for backing the Nord Stream 2 pipeline, warning that the project would leave Germany “captive to Russia”. A senior Nordic official said buying Russian gas again would contradict everything Europe stands for. One proposal that could significantly lower gas prices across Europe has drawn interest from European leaders, a US official said.
The proposal would represent a dramatic shift in Trump’s approach to Russian energy. US officials have also discussed other economic arrangements during negotiations. However, any such arrangement would be tied to a comprehensive peace deal.