Filenews 9 May 2025
Russian and U.S. officials are considering ways to restore gas sales to Europe, according to eight sources familiar with the content of the talks.
Sources close to the bilateral discussions said that carving out a renewed role for Moscow in the European Union's gas market could help consolidate a peace deal with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Although much of Europe has sought alternative supplies, some buyers have remained and industry officials say more could return once a peace deal is implemented.
As for Russia, nothing has hurt its economy more than the loss of most of the European gas market three years ago.
Today, Russia supplies 19 percent of Europe's demand, up from 40 percent, consisting mainly of liquefied natural gas (LNG) and part of it channelled through Turkey via the TurkStream pipeline.
Washington's involvement in restoring gas sales could help Moscow overcome political backlash in much of Europe.
Who is conducting the talks? U.S. participation would also benefit Washington, offering it the ability to see and potentially control to some extent the quantities of Russian gas that returns to Europe, two diplomatic sources and a White House source said.
Since 2022, Europe has turned to other gas suppliers, including U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports.
U.S. envoy Steve Witkov and Putin's envoy for investment, Kirill Dmitriev, have discussed gas as part of the peace talks on Ukraine, two of the eight sources said.
Witkov's spokesman declined to comment when asked if he discussed the issue of Russian gas exports to Europe.
"At the moment, there are no such discussions," Russia's Direct Investment Fund, which Dmitriev leads, said in a statement to Reuters.
Share by American investors in Nord Stream?
As for how the Americans could get involved, five sources said that in the talks that have taken place so far, the takeover by American investors in the Nord Stream pipeline connecting Russia to Germany, or in the pipeline that crosses Ukraine, or in Gazprom itself has been discussed.
U.S. companies could also serve as buyers, buying gas from Gazprom and sending it to Europe, including Germany, the sources said.
Two of the sources said diplomatic talks involving potential U.S. investors also looked at the idea of a U.S. buyer taking Russian gas and then exporting it to Europe as a way to soften European political opposition to resuming supplies.
BlackRock, Vanguard and Capital Group each own 1-2 percent of Gazprom.
BlackRock, Vanguard and Gazprom did not respond to requests for comment. Capital Group declined to comment.
The European Commission declined to comment. Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has expressed her opposition to the return to Russian energy supplies.
"A mistake of historical proportions"
"Some people are still saying that we need to turn on the Russian gas and oil tap again. This would be a mistake of historic proportions and we will never let it happen," he told a meeting of the European Parliament on 7 May.
"Russia has proven, time and time again, that it is not a reliable supplier."
Brussels wants to ban new agreements on Russian gas by the end of 2025 and ban imports under existing agreements until the end of 2027. The plan, which will be debated next month, will require the approval of the European Parliament and a majority of member states. Hungary and Slovakia have expressed their opposition to this move.
Trump has said he hopes for a peace deal for Ukraine soon and expects this to pave the way for both Russia and Ukraine to develop major business ventures with the U.S.
Russia is ready to immediately restart gas exports to Europe if there is political will to do so, Putin has said.
