European Union ministers approved plans to gradually phase out Russian gas imports by the start of 2028 to reduce reliance on Moscow amid criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump that the bloc has been funding both sides of the war in Ukraine.
At a meeting of the Council of the European Union in Luxembourg on Monday, energy ministers for the various member states voted in favour of prohibiting new gas contracts with Russia from January of 2026, while phasing out long-term contracts by the start of 2028.
According to the Council, despite efforts to reduce energy imports from Russia in the wake of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Russian gas still made up around 13 per cent of EU imports in 2025, or an estimated €15 billion ($17.5bn).
“This leaves the EU exposed to significant risks in terms of its trade and energy security,” the Council admitted.
Danish Energy Minister Lars Aagaard said: “An energy independent Europe is a stronger and more secure Europe. Although we have worked hard and pushed to get Russian gas and oil out of Europe in recent years, we are not there yet.
“Therefore, it is crucial that the Danish Presidency has secured an overwhelming support from Europe’s energy ministers for the legislation that will definitively ban Russian gas from coming into the EU.”
The approval of the plans, which still need to be passed by the European Parliament, came despite objections from Hungary and Slovakia, both of whom voted against the measures. According to German broadcaster NTV, Budapest and Bratislava may be given exemptions to continue importing Russian gas over the next two years give their lack of access to ocean ports.
The move by the Council comes less than a month after President Donald Trump specifically called out European allies at the United Nations for “funding the war against themselves” by continuing to purchase Russian energy.
“Who the hell ever heard of that one?” Trump quipped during his address to the General Assembly.
Indeed, estimates from the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) previously found that European countries spent over three billion more dollars on Russian energy in 2024 than they did on funding for the war in Ukraine.
President Trump has long spoke out against Europe’s reliance on Moscow for its energy needs, warning in 2018 that Germany’s Nord Stream 2 pipeline would leave Berlin “captive” to Vladimir Putin.
Such warnings were largely unheeded, however, and German diplomats even openly laughed at the president when he reiterated such warnings at the U.N. later that year.
Nevertheless, the apparent willingness to lessen dependence on Europe’s part to finally shift away from Russian energy may serve to further increase dependence on American Liquid Natural Gas (LNG), a key geopolitical aim of the Trump administration. Indeed, as a part of the major EU-U.S. trade deal negotiated by President Trump earlier this year, Brussels agreed to purchase $750 billion in U.S. energy.
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