By Kate Abnett
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Ten European Union countries have called for the 27-nation bloc to ban imports of pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia, a document seen by Reuters showed, as Europe debates fresh sanctions on Moscow over the war in Ukraine.
The EU is preparing its 16th package of sanctions targeting Russia’s economy, ahead of the third anniversary of Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The 10 countries, including the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia and Finland, want Europe to go further in targeting Russia’s fuel exports, to cut the revenues flowing to Moscow.
“As an end goal, it is necessary to ban the import of Russian gas and LNG at the earliest date possible,” the countries said in a joint paper seen by Reuters.
It was also signed by Ireland, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Sweden.
“An alternative to the full ban could be to gradually reduce the use of Russian gas and LNG as has also already been set out in the RePowerEU Roadmap,” the document said, referring to the EU’s existing aim to end its use of Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
The EU has already sanctioned seaborne oil imports from Russia, but so far not banned gas imports from Moscow because some EU countries continue to rely on them.
The 10 countries said Russian LNG tankers should also be banned from docking inside the EU.
The document was reported earlier on Monday by Bloomberg News.
The European Commission is drafting a more detailed plan to wean countries off Russian energy. Sanctions – the most direct way to shut off Russian fuel imports – would require unanimous approval from all EU countries.
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has previously opposed Russian energy sanctions, while Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico said last week he had secured Slovakia’s gas supply during a visit to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in December.
Europe’s gas imports from former top supplier Russia have plunged since 2022, and the bloc has hiked imports of U.S. LNG and expanded its use of renewable energy to help fill the gap.
Russian gas imports dropped further this month, when a contract bringing Russian fuel to Europe via Ukraine expired. Slovakia has vowed to try to resume that deal.
(Reporting by Kate Abnett; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
