The European Commission has rejected the U.S. proposal to resume gas purchases from Russia
The European Commission has rejected the U.S. proposal to resume gas purchases from Russia as part of the discussion of a truce in Ukraine and confirmed its intention not to lift any sanctions against Russia at least until the conflict is fully over. This was stated by European Commission spokesperson Paula Pinho at a briefing in Brussels.
Answering journalists' questions about the U.S. proposal to resume gas purchases from Russia as part of the peace settlement process, Pinho said: "Our position remains unchanged. President [of the European Commission] Ursula von der Leyen previously stated explicitly that she will not lift a single restriction against Russia until the war is completely ended."
Pinho recalled that the EU summit on October 15-16 "expressed disappointment" with the U.S. decision to ease restrictions against Russia and begin purchasing Russian diesel. Pinho reiterated that the European Commission continues to believe that "coordinated sanctions" against Russia on the part of the EU and the United States are needed, which "can force Russia" to agree to a cessation of hostilities on Kyiv's terms.
Earlier, the European Commission repeatedly explained that the complete and indefinite ban on EU countries purchasing Russian gas, which will take effect in Europe starting in 2027, "is not part of the sanctions policy" and it will remain in force even in the unlikely event that European restrictions against Russia are lifted.
Thus, the EC effectively confirmed the information from The New York Times, citing sources, that Brussels had rejected the proposal of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump to resume purchases of Russian natural gas by European countries as one of the elements of a plan to settle the Russian-Ukrainian conflict. According to the publication, the American president's special envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner discussed this initiative with Ukrainian and European officials, including with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a visit to Kyiv in September. U.S. representatives proposed that Ukraine consider the possibility of resuming the operation of pipelines through which Russian gas previously flowed to Europe. Washington expects that such a step could become one of the incentives for Moscow to agree to end the conflict. As the newspaper notes, the European participants in the talks reacted negatively to the proposal.
Source: TASS
