US proposes Ukraine restore Russian gas transit as part of peace deal

The administration of US President Donald Trump has proposed that Ukraine restore the transit of Russian gas to Europe. This initiative is intended to become a component of a future peace agreement, although European officials have reacted to it with sharp negativity.

Negotiations in Kyiv and Washington's arguments

US Presidential Special Envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised this issue during negotiations with Ukrainian and European officials. Specifically, they discussed it with President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv last month.

The American side argues that restoring the operation of the pipelines through which Russian gas previously flowed to Europe will push Russia towards ending the war. According to Washington, Ukraine would receive financial benefits from transit payments. Furthermore, the Trump administration believes that European voters will sooner or later want cheaper energy.

In Washington, the resumption of supplies is being considered as a long-term plan, part of a grand bargain. It is to cover relations between Russia and NATO, security guarantees for Ukraine, and territorial issues. Some European and Ukrainian officials expect that the US will want a share of the profits from Russian gas. The White House stated that the peace proposal includes economic incentives for both Russia and Ukraine.

Sharp resistance from Berlin and internal pressure

Germany, which was the largest buyer of Russian gas until 2022, is opposing the move most decisively. At negotiations in Florida last week, Chancellor Friedrich Merz's security advisor Gunther Sauter sharply objected. In Berlin, it is believed that gas from Russia remains Russian, even if sold by an intermediary.

«Європа, і особливо Німеччина, більше ніколи не повинна залежати від російського газу. Ми бачили, наскільки ненадійною була Росія» ("Europe, and especially Germany, must never again depend on Russian gas. We have seen how unreliable Russia was"), said former German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.

Meanwhile, pressure on the German government is growing. The far-right Alternative for Germany, which leads in polls with nearly 30%, is calling for the return of Russian gas to curb inflation.

Sanctions and Moscow's reaction

On Friday, Trump exempted Russia from new sanctions adopted by Congress. A week prior, he lifted sanctions on Russian diesel fuel.

Kyrylo Dmitriev, economic envoy to Russian dictator Vladimir Putin, stated that «крига нарешті скресла» ("the ice has finally thawed"), and announced new initiatives. According to him, the parties are discussing, among other things, data centres powered by Russian nuclear energy and energy projects in the Arctic.

«Відновлення енергетичної співпраці в будь-якій формі відповідає нашим інтересам, але зараз, можливо, ще більше - інтересам самих європейців» ("The restoration of energy cooperation in any form is in our interests, but now, perhaps even more so, it is in the interests of the Europeans themselves"), said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov.

Kyiv's position and statistics

Zelensky predicted in an interview with the FT this week that the next US deal with Russia after diesel fuel «точно буде газ» ("will definitely be gas").

Ukraine halted the transit of Russian gas in January 2025 and lost approximately $1 billion annually in transit fees. The European Union has pledged to completely phase out Russian gas by next year. Last year, Russia's share of the EU's gas imports was 13%, whereas in 2021 it reached 45%.

According to sources close to the publication, the blown-up Nord Stream 2 pipeline was mentioned in US-Russia talks. One source called its restart in the event of a peace deal "the simplest step". The White House, however, assured that this topic had not been discussed recently.