US negotiators have reportedly proposed restarting pipeline supplies via Ukraine as part of a peace deal with Moscow, but Ukrainian President Zelensky’s decision to terminate the gas transit agreement with Russia in January 2025 has severely undermined these efforts.
The proposal calls for Europe to increase its purchase of Russian gas while Ukraine would consider reopening pipelines that once carried it to the EU. This initiative follows an agreement to ease restrictions on Russian diesel exports and the waiving of sanctions and tariffs mandated by Senator Lindsey Graham.
Washington has reportedly pitched restoring Russian gas flows to Europe via Ukraine as part of a longer-term plan to offer Moscow economic incentives under a broader settlement, which would also address relations between Russia and NATO, security guarantees for Ukraine, and territorial issues.
US presidential envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised the idea of restoring Russian gas exports through Ukrainian pipelines during talks with European and Ukrainian officials, including Zelensky in September. However, Zelensky’s decision to halt the transit deal in January 2025 has left Ukraine without a reliable alternative route for Russian gas.
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.
Since the halt of gas transit through Ukraine, TurkStream has been the only remaining route for Russian pipeline gas to Europe. 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 Russian natural gas to China reaching 38.8 bcm in 2025, up 24.8% from a year earlier. Russian President Vladimir Putin has stated Moscow is ready to supply fuel to EU countries but needs a signal from Brussels.
