The EU increased imports of Russian LNG in early 2026 despite its political commitment to a full phase-out by 2027. Imports from Russia’s Yamal project rose 17% year-on-year, with the EU buying 97% of its shipments.
This reliance persists amid global energy market volatility, highlighted by a recent crisis that disrupted supplies and sent prices soaring. The EU is publicly holding to its ban while allowing increased purchases for immediate energy security.
Member states like Hungary and Slovakia strongly oppose the phase-out, arguing it will damage the European economy more than Russia’s.
The formal ban includes a structured timeline and severe penalties. It prohibits Russian LNG imports from the start of 2027 (with pipeline gas later that year), includes a transition period for existing contracts and mandates national diversification plans.
The situation reveals a core conflict between political goals and practical energy needs. Replacing Russian gas involves complex challenges of supply, geography, and competition, leading European utilities to continue buying Russian LNG as a pragmatic, if contradictory, security measure.
In a stark paradox that lays bare the deep fissures in European energy policy, the European Union has dramatically increased its purchases of Russian natural gas during the first months of 2026, even as it publicly insists it will completely sever these energy ties by the end of next year. This uncomfortable reality, reported by the Financial Times based on hard trade data, reveals a bloc caught between its political declarations and its practical, pressing need to keep the lights on and industries running. The surge in imports underscores a painful truth: after years of sanctions and vows, Europe’s economy remains quietly tethered to the very adversary it seeks to economically isolate.
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