The United States is backing a quick return of Russian natural-gas sales to Europe through pipelines crossing Ukraine, according to U.S., European and Ukrainian officials cited by The Wall Street Journal. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Monday that an immediate resumption was impossible because of the “situation on the ground.”
U.S. envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff first raised the idea on trips to Moscow and Kyiv in September. Russian gas would be sold through a U.S. intermediary, a step meant to get around European sanctions. People who attended the discussions said the arrangement could also prove lucrative for American investors.
Peskov added one qualification. Exports could become possible later, he said, if buyers and sellers agree.
In the American pitch, a restored Russian presence in Europe’s gas market would give President Vladimir Putin a reason to accept an energy ceasefire before winter. The Soviet-era pipeline network runs from the Urengoi fields in Siberia across Ukraine to Europe. Kyiv, which is short of money, would collect transit fees if gas flowed through it again.
White House officials have proposed that Russia put the proceeds from any sales into an escrow account in a third-party jurisdiction, so the Kremlin could not spend the money on its war. A senior U.S. official described the proposal. Officials have pitched it to European leaders as a way to cut energy prices ahead of a winter in which Europe’s gas reserves sit at their lowest seasonal level in several years.
The timing has sharpened the push. Kyiv resumed its air campaign on Friday, hitting three major Russian refineries in three days. Washington had pressed Ukraine to hold off on such strikes, and the resumption has added urgency to the search for a broader energy ceasefire before three-way talks planned for mid-November in Abu Dhabi. Russia has so far rebuffed American attempts to reach that deal.
The gas idea sat on the back burner for much of last month. Ukraine stopped striking Russian refineries for almost two weeks under pressure from President Donald Trump. Russia kept pounding Ukraine’s energy infrastructure through that pause.
Europe’s stated position leaves little room. EU law requires all purchases of Russian natural gas to be phased out by the end of 2027, and the bloc’s official line is that purchases will not resume even after a full peace agreement. Leaders of Europe’s biggest nations say they have no interest in depending again on energy from a country they view as their top strategic threat.
EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen put it bluntly in an October interview his office has confirmed.
“I certainly would not trust Russia. Even if there were peace tomorrow, which we all hope for,”
Privately, some European officials go further. A senior Nordic official said resuming Russian gas purchases goes against everything Europeans stand for. An official from a large European nation compared the idea to Neville Chamberlain sacrificing Czechoslovakia to Hitler in exchange for business deals.
The physical route, at least, could reopen fast. The network through Ukraine connects onward to Slovakia, Austria and Germany, and limited amounts of gas moved through it until the flow stopped in January 2025. Russian gas still supplies 11% of Europe’s consumption, down from 45% on the eve of the war, arriving by tanker or through the TurkStream pipelines. U.S. liquefied natural gas accounts for 30%. Europe’s underground storage is about 75% full, below the nine-year average heading into winter.
A U.S. official said negotiators have discussed various economic proposals during the talks. Europeans have expressed interest in one that would drastically reduce gas prices across the continent, the official said, adding that any economic agreements would form part of a comprehensive peace deal.
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