Austria: EU should resume Russian gas imports in the event of peace in Ukraine

An Austrian official told Brussels that the European Union would be willing to resume Russian gas imports in the event of a 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 told reporters that Austria's junior energy minister would be weighing all the proposals before deciding on a position.

Zehetner stated on Monday that it was clear that the situation would be different when the war ended.

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

Her office released a clarification Tuesday saying Austria strongly condemned Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and supported a proposed prohibition on Russian gas imports.

It said: "The claim that Austria wants Russian gas imported again after the war is simply false."

The EU added: "On the long-term, the EU should be able to assess the situation in the aftermath of the war in order to continue to configure their energy supply in a cost-effective and secure manner in the future."

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 EU members approved them, which means one or two countries 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: "That would be 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 full scale in February 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 2016, supplies through Ukrainian pipelines also ceased. (Reporting and editing by Christian Schmollinger, Mark Heinrich and Christian Schmollinger; Additional reporting by Francois Murph in Vienna)

(source: Reuters)