EU looks to accelerate ban on Russian LNG in new sanctions package, official says

By Julia Payne

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Commission is discussing a proposal to bring forward a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas in a new package of sanctions against Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine, an EU official said.

The new push follows a call between European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday. The U.S. has stepped up pressure on Europe to play a more robust role in helping to end Russia's war in Ukraine, with a peace deal seemingly elusive despite repeated threats of harsher penalties on Moscow and partners.

Trump's demands include that European nations halt all Russian oil purchases and that the bloc impose tariffs on China and India, both big buyers of Russian fossil fuels. He has also piled pressure on the Group of Seven nations (G7) and NATO, which includes Russian oil buyer Turkey.

The EU is already negotiating proposals to completely phase out imports of Russian oil and gas by January 1, 2028, with a ban on short-term contracts kicking in from next year.

The new sanctions, which will be the EU's 19th package of sanctions against Russia since the war with Ukraine began, is due to be presented to member states on Friday, the EU official and diplomats said. The package had been expected as early as last Friday after a high-level EU trip to Washington and efforts at coordination delayed it a week.

The Commission shelved plans earlier this year to sanction LNG imports and instead the EU banned Russian LNG trans-shipments at EU ports in a sanctions package.

About 19% of Europe's gas still comes from Russia, via the TurkStream pipeline and LNG shipments, down from roughly 45% before 2022. Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and France import Russian LNG. Gas piped via TurkStream goes to Slovakia, Hungary and Bulgaria. 

France's Totalenergies declined to comment on the ongoing discussions. Last week, Totalenergies CEO Patrick Pouyanne said Russian gas was needed until end 2027 "then we can exit from that because we can source it from other places without impact on the price."

TurkStream remains the only pipeline carrying Russian gas to Europe after blasts stopped exports via the Nord Stream 1 pipelines in September 2022 and after transit via Ukraine was halted on January 1. 

(Reporting by Julia Payne, Editing by Louise Heavens and Susan Fenton)