EU’s Gas Dilemma: Caught Between Trump Pressure and Russian Supply

Three years after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, some European companies are calling for a return to Russian gas—even though doing so could help fund Putin’s war machine, The Gaze reports citing Reuters.

After cutting Russian energy imports in response to the war, the EU leaned heavily on U.S. liquefied natural gas (LNG) to fill the gap. But with political uncertainty in the U.S. and rising energy costs, some EU leaders and industry executives are reconsidering Russian supplies, especially as negotiations with alternative suppliers like Qatar have stalled.

Executives from French energy giant Engie and TotalEnergies, as well as German chemical companies, are suggesting that limited imports of Russian gas could help stabilize prices and protect jobs—despite the EU’s 2022 pledge to end all Russian energy imports by 2027.

In Germany, where industries once relied on cheap Russian gas, some regional leaders and business heads are openly calling for the reopening of pipelines. A recent poll showed nearly half of residents in parts of eastern Germany support a return to Russian energy.

Critics warn that any return to Russian gas risks undoing years of progress and could directly fund Russia’s military aggression. “It’s hard to comment, being Ukrainian, but I hope that European politicians learned their lessons dealing with Russia,” said Maxim Timchenko, CEO of Ukrainian energy firm DTEK. 

Meanwhile, concerns grow that U.S. gas could become a geopolitical tool, especially if trade tensions escalate under a possible second Trump presidency. EU officials are weighing how to secure long-term energy independence—without falling back into old dependencies.

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