According to a report by the American newspaper The New York Times on October 17, the Trump administration is considering encouraging Europe to resume purchasing Russian natural gas. It has also suggested that Ukraine should restart the pipelines that transport Russian gas to Europe as an economic incentive to persuade Russia to end the conflict with Ukraine. However, this proposal has encountered strong opposition from European countries such as Germany.
Sources familiar with the matter revealed that two special envoys of U.S. President Donald Trump, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Steve Wittke, have brought this idea up during meetings with Ukrainian and European officials, including those held last month in Kiev with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The US believes that restoring Russian gas supplies would not only bring revenue to Russia, but also allow Ukraine to regain the natural gas transit fees. Considering the high energy prices in Europe, officials of the Trump administration believe that European voters will ultimately wish to have access to cheap Russian gas again.
This proposal is fundamentally different from US policies in recent years that supported Europe's break from Russian energy dependence.
Since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict in 2022, the EU has continuously reduced its natural gas imports from Russia. In 2021, Russian natural gas accounted for 45% of the EU's total natural gas imports, but this figure dropped to 13% by 2025. The EU also promised to completely stop importing Russian natural gas by 2027.
Ukraine will stop Russian natural gas transit in January 2025, resulting in a loss of approximately $1 billion in transit fees each year.
According to The New York Times, the restoration of Russian natural gas exports is one of the long-term plans being discussed between Kushner and Witckow. The broader peace agreement envisioned by the US also includes matters such as Russia’s future relationship with NATO, Ukraine’s security concerns, and territorial control arrangements.
Some European and Ukrainian officials expect that the United States may seek to be directly involved in Russia’s natural gas exports, allowing American companies and even the U.S. government to profit from this arrangement.
One of the projects that has received attention is the damaged “North Stream-2” natural gas pipeline.
American investor Stephen Lynch has been seeking to acquire this submarine pipeline that connects Russia and Germany since the Biden administration. He believes that Russian natural gas will eventually be transported through this pipeline back to Europe again. Having the pipeline under American control would be beneficial for both American interests and European security.
In 2019, the construction site of the “North Stream 2” natural gas pipeline in Lübmin, northeastern Germany – Visual China
Lynch stated that he is not currently involved in any negotiations regarding the ‘North Stream’ project. However, sources familiar with the matter revealed that American and Russian officials did discuss the ‘North Stream’ project. Reuters also reported this month that both the United States and Russia discussed involving American investors in the project.
A person familiar with the matter said that the Trump administration believes that reopening the Nord Stream pipeline would be a relatively easy goal if a peace agreement is reached.
The White House emphasized in its statement that "Nord Stream" is not a topic discussed recently. Any arrangements related to this pipeline must be part of a comprehensive peace agreement, and should be coordinated closely with European partners.
The German government is firmly opposed to this.
According to people familiar with the matter, last week, during negotiations on Ukraine in Florida, Kuznetsov and Wetkow discussed the proposal to resume Russian gas supply. Jürgen Stroehter, the chief security advisor to German Chancellor Merz, strongly opposed this proposal.
A European official familiar with Germany's stance said this week that the German government believes that Russian natural gas sold through intermediaries is no different from natural gas purchased directly from Russia, and therefore should not be included in peace negotiations.
Former German Economic Minister Habeck also said that Europe, especially Germany, must not rely again on Russian natural gas.
However, there is increasing demand in Germany for the restoration of gas imports from Russia.
One of the leaders of the Alternative for Germany (AfD), Weidel, said this week in the Federal Parliament: "We hope to obtain natural gas and crude oil from Russia in order to reduce the burden on German consumers and businesses."
She criticized that Washington and Moscow are negotiating an agreement that is mutually beneficial for both sides. However, Germany continues to impose sanctions on Russia, which is “destroying our own economy.”
Currently, the party has a support rate of nearly 30% in national polls in Germany. This week, in Saxony-Anhalt state, members of the party and the alliance with Sarah Wagenknecht jointly supported a resolution calling for the German federal government to end sanctions against Russia and to stop providing military assistance to Ukraine.
The Russian side is open to restoring energy cooperation.
"Whether in the form of restoring energy cooperation, or otherwise, it serves our own interests. But, at present, this might serve the interest of Europeans even more."
Russian President's Special Envoy for Economic Affairs, Dmitriev, revealed at an energy conference held in Moscow on the 16th that the United States and Russia are discussing a series of cooperation projects, including using Russian nuclear power to supply data centers, as well as energy cooperation in the Arctic region.
"I believe that we will announce some important measures in the near future. After all, the thick ice has finally been broken," he said.
Previously, Trump announced on the 16th that the United States would be exempted from a new round of sanctions against Russia passed by Congress. Just a week ago, the United States also eased its sanctions on Russian diesel fuel. Demidiev said that the deal on diesel fuel is just the beginning of possible cooperation between the US and Russia.
Ukraine's President Zelenskyy expressed his dissatisfaction with this.
In an interview with the British "Financial Times" last week, Zelenskyy discussed possible new deals between the US and Russia. He said, "What will the next deal be? It might be natural gas. Definitely natural gas."
The White House responded that the United States is working closely with Ukraine and European partners to develop a comprehensive peace plan that includes economic incentives for both Russia and Ukraine, with the goal of achieving lasting peace and economic recovery.
However, The New York Times pointed out that although US and Russian officials have been discussing potential commercial cooperation since last year, these prospects have not yet led Putin to make concessions on key Russian demands.
Regarding the possibility of the United States participating in Russia’s natural gas export business, Habek’s attitude has also changed.
"In the past, if a US company were able to become one of the owners of the pipeline, I would have been happy," he said. "But now I am worried because we see that Trump seems to hold more favor towards Putin than Ukrainians do."
