Kremlin, EU and Kyiv cool on US-backed plan to send Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine

A United States proposal to restart Russian gas exports to Europe through Ukraine drew a cool response on Monday from all three parties it would depend on. The European Commission said it would keep phasing out Russian gas, Ukrainian officials declined to comment publicly, and the Kremlin said the idea did not fit the present situation, while not ruling it out in future.

The plan, first reported by The Wall Street Journal, would let Russia sell gas to Europe through an American intermediary, with the gas moving through Ukraine's pipeline network and Kyiv earning transit fees, according to the Kyiv Independent and Oilprice.com, which summarised the report. It is being discussed alongside US efforts to secure a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure ahead of planned trilateral peace talks.

What the proposal says

According to the Kyiv Independent, gas would flow along the Druzhba route, about 4,500 km from Siberian fields including Urengoy. Because Russia is unlikely to pay war reparations directly, Kyiv could present the transit fees as compensation from Moscow, with proceeds possibly going into a US-proposed "prosperity fund" or an escrow account in a third country. US negotiators told Ukrainian officials in September that it would be put into effect only after Russia ended the war or agreed to a ceasefire, the outlet reported.

Oilprice.com said the idea was floated by the US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner during trips to Moscow and Kyiv in September, and that sales through a US intermediary would still face significant legal obstacles under EU restrictions.

What each side said

European Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen said: "Regardless of what happens, we are phasing out Russian gas and LNG. The last shipments will be finished by the end of next year," the Kyiv Independent reported. The EU has legally committed to ending all Russian gas imports by 2027, and its rules bar Russian gas entering indirectly through a third country, the outlet said. An unnamed senior EU official told the Kyiv Independent: "The Americans can propose what they want. That doesn't mean we will agree to it."

Ukrainian officials have not commented publicly, though some are privately wary of rejecting the plan outright, the Kyiv Independent said.

Asked about the report on Monday, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "The situation on the ground speaks for itself." He added that everything would depend on "the willingness of buyers, the willingness of sellers and the capabilities of sellers", according to Russia's state broadcaster RT. Moscow has previously said it wants a lasting peace rather than a temporary ceasefire.

Background

Russian gas stopped flowing through Ukraine to Europe on 1 January 2025, when Kyiv declined to renew a five-year transit agreement with Gazprom. Europe has since leaned more heavily on liquefied natural gas, including from the United States, though it still buys Russian LNG: European countries took about 85% of the Yamal LNG plant's recorded deliveries in the first nine months of 2026, Oilprice.com reported. EU gas storage was 61% full on 1 November, it said, against an 80% target.

In October, the EU also rejected a US proposal to place 200 billion euros of frozen Russian assets under American custodianship, according to the Kyiv Independent.

Why it matters for India

Europe's switch from pipeline gas to LNG since 2022 has tightened the global LNG market in which India, one of Asia's large importers, also buys. Any return of Russian pipeline gas to Europe would change that balance, but on Monday's evidence neither Brussels nor Moscow is ready to sign up. The plan also touches the wider peace effort: the US is seeking a halt to attacks on energy infrastructure before trilateral talks between Russia, Ukraine and the US planned for Abu Dhabi in November, according to RT.

What happens next

The EU's phase-out timetable runs to the end of 2027. No date has been announced for the Abu Dhabi talks, and none of the governments involved has published the proposal.