Poland and EU hawks push for Russian LNG ban

By Gabriel Gavin | 01/15/2025 06:19 AM EST

Ten countries are pushing for tough new restrictions — but Hungary and Slovakia are expected to oppose them.

Poland and nine other EU countries are pushing to deprive Russia of billions of euros that it uses to fund its war in Ukraine by tightening restrictions on Moscow’s fossil fuel exports — particularly liquefied natural gas — and its access to foreign finance.

In a joint proposal, seen by POLITICO, the 10 countries — Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Czechia, Romania and Ireland — urged “further action” to close loopholes and take aim at Russia’s lucrative natural gas sales. Warsaw is a significant signatory as it assumed the influential presidency of the Council of the EU at the start of this year, giving it the power to set the agenda in Brussels.

The countries complained Russia had earned €200 billion from fossil fuel sales to the EU since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and that LNG imports from Russia rose 11 percent in the first half of 2024.

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“Russia’s ability to sustain its war efforts is deeply intertwined with its energy revenues,” the document reads. “We need to take a further leap and address the increasing Russian liquefied natural gas imports. As an end goal, it is necessary to ban the import of Russian gas and LNG at the earliest date possible.”

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