EU ambassadors approve plan to cut off from russian gas by 2027

European Union ambassadors have approved a plan to gradually stop importing russian gas by the fall of 2027. A spokesman for Denmark, which holds the EU presidency, has announced this, Sky News reported on Wednesday, December 10.

According to the agreement announced last week in Brussels, the EU is going to stop importing russian liquefied natural gas by the end of 2026, and pipeline gas by the end of September 2027. The ban must be officially approved by the ministers of the member states and the European Parliament.

“Both sides are expected to approve the agreement by an overwhelming majority, despite resistance from Hungary and Slovakia,” the report says.

The publication writes that before the start of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, russian gas imports to the EU amounted to 45%, while in October this figure fell to about 12%. In addition, the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas, said that the agreement “will put an end to moscow’s energy blackmail and help cut off the revenues that fuel its war.”

As the Ukrainian News agency earlier reported, on November 14, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán nsaid that his government would sue the European Union over its decision to gradually stop importing russian gas.

On September 19, European Union Energy Spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen named eight countries that continue to import gas from the aggressor country russia.

The European Parliament is considering proposals to accelerate the EU’s refusal from russian gas one year earlier – until January 2027.