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European Commission wants to ban the import of Russian LNG as early as 2027

by AI | 19.Sep 2025 | Europe in brief AI

The European Commission wants to stop the import of Russian LNG into the European Union as of January 1, 2027, a year earlier than planned. This was announced by the High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs, Kaja Kallas.

The High Representative of the European Union's foreign policy Kaja Kallas (Photo John THYS/AFP)

“Our goal is to accelerate the phase-out of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) by January 1, 2027,” Kallas shared on social media following the presentation of new sanctions against Russia. “The revenues from energy sales keep Russia’s war going,” she added.

The EU has long been intent on banning the import of Russian gas. Currently, member states and the European Parliament are considering a draft regulation that prohibits imports starting January 1, 2028. If the new proposal gets the green light, the ban on LNG would therefore come into effect a year earlier.

Since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the supply of Russian gas in the EU has already significantly decreased. In 2021, Russia accounted for 45 percent of gas imports, last year it was only 19 percent. The port of Zeebrugge remains an important import destination for LNG, but mainly for transit to other countries. France, the Netherlands, Portugal, and Spain still import Russian LNG. Hungary, Slovakia, and Greece, on the other hand, receive gas through the TurkStream pipeline.