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The Trump administration is pushing to restore Russian natural gas sales to Europe via pipelines running through Ukraine, according to a new report.
US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff proposed the idea during trips to Moscow and Kyiv earlier this year, as Washington looks to push for an energy truce ahead of the winter, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Russian gas would be sold through a US intermediary in order to avoid sanctions by the EU – which has legislated to end all purchases of Russia’s natural gas by the end of 2027.
US officials put the plan on the back burner after Kyiv stoped striking Russian refineries under pressure from Trump. But after Moscow’s refusal to stop attacking Ukrainian energy infrastructure, Kyiv has resumed its strikes on Russia’s energy targets.
Washington hoped to announce an energy ceasefire ahead of three-way peace negotiations scheduled for mid-November in Abu Dhabi.
Last winter saw Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy infrastructure take a heavy toll on daily life across Ukraine, with millions left without power and heating as temperatures fell below zero.
White House negotiators believe that the possibility of Russian returning to the European natural gas market would be an incentive for Vladimir Putin to halt its attacks on Ukrainian infrastructure. Kyiv would also receive significant transit fees for the gas which would run through old pipelines running through the country, the WSJ reports.
Officials have suggested Russian proceeds from the sales are deposited into an escrow account to ensure the Kremlin can’t use the funds to support its war effort in Ukraine, a senior US official told the outlet.
The sale of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) into Europe is already providing a significant boost to Russia’s economy, due to delays to the legislation to ban the imports.
The EU has still brought in a record 12.18 million tonnes of Russian Arctic LNG in first nine months of 2026, according to an analysis of Kpler data by Urgewald.
The bloc paid €1.92 billion (£1.6bn) for LNG from Russia’s Yamal project in the third quarter of 2026 alone, with the estimated total bill from the first nine months as high as €7.88bn (£6.6bn).
With Moscow’s economy flagging under the weight of damaging EU sanctions and Kyiv scaling up attacks on Russian oil facilities, experts previously told The Independent the failure to implement stricter measures on LNG is a wasted opportunity and demonstrates to Vladimir Putin that the Europeans “really don’t have the stomach to turn the screw fully”.
The latest proposal by Washington will deal yet another blow to European attempts to prevent the lucrative flow of Russian natural gas through Europe, just months before its long-awaited bans were finally set to take affect.
Short-term LNG contracts signed before 17 June 2025 were banned as of April this year, while any new Russian import contracts were banned as of 18 March 2026.
This, however, leaves a nine-month gap for short-term contracts concluded between these two dates, all of which remain valid – meaning the measures are yet to have an impact on Yamal LNG flows to Europe.
Long-term bans on Russian LNG will not be imposed until 2027, a move which was agreed last year.
Source: www.independent.co.uk
