EU under Trump pressure, plans to ban Russian LNG

The European Union (EU) plans to ban Russian LNG imports into the bloc a year earlier than envisaged as part of a 19th package of sanctions against Moscow, EU officials said on Friday, a change that follows pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump.

“The revenues from fossil fuels sustain Russia’s war economy. We want to cut these revenues,” said European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, as she announced the proposal, which requires unanimous approval from EU governments.

“So we are banning imports of Russian LNG into European markets. It is time to turn off the tap,” von der Leyen said.

An EU sanctions proposal kicks off intense discussions among the 27-member countries to reach an agreement. Russia-friendly governments in Hungary and Slovakia have held up previous packages before a compromise was finally reached.

Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign policy chief, said on X that the new proposal aimed “to speed up the phase-out of Russian liquefied natural gas (to be complete) by 1 Jan 2027”.

The EU had previously planned a phase-out by January 1, 2028, but Trump has repeatedly urged the bloc to end Russian energy purchases faster before he does anything further to pressure Moscow.

PACKAGE ALSO TARGETS ‘SHADOW FLEET’ AND CRYPTO

Beyond LNG, or liquefied natural gas, the proposed sanctions would also target more of Russia’s shadow tanker fleet and cryptocurrency.

Von der Leyen and Kallas did not give full details of the new package, but officials said it would also target Russian and central Asian banks, Chinese refineries and special economic zones, a customs loophole used by Moscow to import dual-use goods for its military.

“We are now going after these who fuel Russia’s war, who purchase oil in breach of sanctions,” von der Leyen said. “We target refineries, oil traders, petrochemical companies in third countries including China.”

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Wednesday that any EU proposal to phase out Russian energy more quickly would not affect Russia and would not force it to change its position.

Trump is pressing Europe to play a more robust role in helping end Russia’s war in Ukraine, demanding it shoulder a greater burden of the cost of shoring up Ukraine’s military and do more to deprive Moscow of the energy revenues bankrolling its war economy.

A European official said advancing the ban on Russian LNG became a “priority” after von der Leyen spoke with Trump this week.