U.S. pushes to restart Russia-Europe gas pipeline via Ukraine
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2026-11-02 17:26:24
Updated
2026-11-02 17:26:24
U.S. President Donald Trump. AP Newsis
[Financial News]The U.S. is pushing to restart a gas pipeline that runs through Ukrainian territory and resume sales of Russian natural gas in Europe ahead of the winter.The U.S. daily The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 1st (local time) that Steve Witkoff, a special envoy for U.S. President Donald Trump, and Jared Kushner proposed the idea last September but faced opposition from some European countries.According to the report, the U.S. negotiating team believed that bringing Russia back into the European natural gas market would be a strong incentive for Russian President Vladimir Putin to agree to a peace deal. The U.S. plan is to deposit the proceeds from gas sales in an escrow account in a third country to prevent Russia from using the revenue to fund the war.Europe’s basic policy, by contrast, is not to resume purchases of Russian gas even after the war, because it recognizes that dependence on hostile forces for energy could leave it strategically vulnerable. In this regard, EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen has stressed that “the ban on imports of Russian gas must be permanent.”Despite this, the Trump administration is reportedly betting that, with natural gas prices having surged since the war in Iran, European opposition may not be as firm as it appears. Russian gas currently accounts for around 11% of Europe’s natural gas, down sharply from 45% before the war in Ukraine.
