Austria: EU should consider returning to Russian gas in the event of peace in Ukraine

An Austrian official told Brussels that the European Union would be willing to resume Russian gas imports if there was a future peace agreement between Russia and Ukraine.

The European Commission will propose legal measures to implement the ban on Tuesday, with the goal of ending the EU's dependence on Russian energy before the end of 2027.

Elisabeth Zehetner (Austria's State Secretary for Energy) told reporters Monday that the country would be weighing all of the proposals before deciding on its position.

Zehetner stated that "it is already clear that, when the war ends, we will have to take that into consideration in our assessment of the situation at that time."

EU diplomats said Zehetner, at a meeting of EU energy ministers held behind closed doors on Monday, had stressed the need to reconsider the ban in the event that a peace agreement is reached in Ukraine. However, no other EU member states have called for the same.

Hungary and Slovakia rejected the plan to prohibit Russian imports. The Commission's proposals are due to be released on Tuesday. They were designed so that they could pass into law if a majority of countries approved them, which means one or two cannot block them.

EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen stated on Monday that it would be a "very unwise decision" for the EU to resume Russian Gas imports, even if a peace agreement in Ukraine was reached.

He said: "It would be like repeating the mistakes we have made in the past."

Around 19% (down from 45%) of EU gas comes from Russia, the former top supplier. This is down from 45% just before Moscow invaded Ukraine on a large scale in 2022.

Austria, a landlocked country, bought the majority of its gas from Russia up until last year. After a dispute over supplying Austria, the Russian state energy company Gazprom stopped supplying Austria. At the end of that year, supplies through Ukrainian pipelines also ceased. (Reporting and editing by Christian Schmollinger; Bart Meijer, Kate Abnett)

(source: Reuters)