EU agrees to phase out natural gas imports from Russia

The European Council stated on the 20th that EU member states support the proposal to gradually stop imports of Russian natural gas before January 2028.

At the European Council meeting held in Luxembourg that day, EU energy ministers approved the relevant proposals. Starting from January 1, 2026, the EU prohibits internal parties from signing new imported natural gas contracts with Russia; while retaining a transition period for existing contracts, short-term contracts can last until June 17, 2026, and long-term contracts will be terminated before January 1, 2028. The proposal still needs to be approved by the European Parliament.

Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Economic Affairs Szijjártó Peter told reporters that the actual impact of this proposal is that Hungary’s energy security supply will be completely destroyed.

Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the EU has significantly reduced its imports of natural gas from Russia via pipelines, but some European countries have increased their imports of Russian liquefied natural gas by sea. According to EU estimates, Russian natural gas still accounts for about 13% of EU imports, with an annual value of more than 15 billion euros.

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