The European Parliament supported a ban on imports of Russian gas and LNG

On December 17, the European Parliament approved the European Unionʼs plan to gradually phase out Russian gas imports by the end of 2027.

This is stated on the EP website.

The decision was supported by 500 MEPs, with 120 against and 32 abstentions. It must now be approved by the EU Council.

The import of Russian LNG is planned to be banned from the beginning of 2026, and imports of pipeline gas will be gradually reduced by September 30, 2027.

The new law also sets out the fines that Member States will apply to operators for infringements.

The EU and the rejection of Russian gas

In May 2022, the EU put forward the REPowerEU proposal — the European Commissionʼs plan to end dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2030 in response to Russiaʼs full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In May 2025, the European Commission published a plan to completely abandon Russian energy sources. It included the following points:

• Complete cessation of Russian gas imports by the end of 2027. Russian gas will be better tracked on European markets, and new contracts with Russian suppliers will be banned, as will spot deals.
• The EU will impose new restrictions on Russiaʼs shadow fleet, which are oil tankers that Russia uses to circumvent Western sanctions.
• Restrictions on new contracts involving Euratom for the supply of uranium, enriched uranium, and other nuclear materials from Russia.

Thanks to the REPowerEU plan, the EU reduced its share of Russian gas imports from 45% to 19% from May 2022. However, in 2024, Russian gas imports started to increase again.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.