When the EU adopted its February wartime sanctions on Russia, officials omitted a Russian LNG ban, despite mounting pressure from capitals. The reason was the ongoing Trump talks: The EU didn’t want to propose a formal ban on Moscow’s fuel until it had a gas deal with D.C.
Also paused is a long-awaited “roadmap” to ending Russian energy dependence — which officials say will focus on Moscow's gas exports, as well as oil and nuclear technology. Again, the unresolved energy talks with the U.S. are partly to blame.
“We are still moving forward with the roadmap, it is being prepared, but the timing has changed in light of the latest geopolitical developments,” one senior Commission official told POLITICO, granted anonymity to discuss the sensitive issue.
Trump’s decisions on both the LNG talks and Russian sanctions will help chart the EU’s own energy course.
If the U.S. leader goes all in on an LNG deal, it would help unfreeze the EU’s Russian roadmap and may even restart the debate on phasing out Russian LNG. But if the talks lead to nothing — and there appears to have been little progress thus far — it’ll make life much harder for Brussels and EU countries fighting on alone.
Latvia hasn’t bought Russian gas since the start of 2024 but still sees value in tighter U.S. energy bonds. The country is “interested in strengthening energy cooperation with our strategic partner, the U.S., including increasing LNG imports,” said Braže, the Latvian foreign minister.