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The EU must be open to resume imports of Russian gases in case a peace agreement is negotiated to end the war in Ukraine, said Austria, despite a new prohibition proposed throughout the EU on the fossil fuel of Russia.
Brussels “must maintain the option to reassess the situation once the war has ended,” said Austria’s Ministry of Energy Financial Times.
Elisabeth Zehetner, the Austrian State Secretary of Energy, made a plea similar to her EU partners at a meeting in Luxembourg on Monday, diplomats said with knowledge of discussions.
The Vienna position marks the first time since the large -scale invasion of Moscow in Ukraine in 2022 that an EU Member State that is not Hungary or Slovakia has openly floated the resumption of Russian gas imports once the war ends.
On Tuesday, the European Commission proposed gradually prohibiting Russian gas imports since January 1, with all the last vestiges of Russian fuel that will be prohibited by 2028, regardless of the result of peace conversations.
Countries without coastline such as Austria, Hungary and Slovakia would be granted longer periods to eliminate short -term contracts for Russian gas, while the rest of the block would have to end those of June 17, 2026.
Dan Jørgensen, the EU Energy Commissioner said that a possible peace agreement “should not lead us to begin to import Russian gas again.”
“That would be a very reckless decision because that would only be filling [Russian President Vladimir] Putin’s war chest with money. I think that would be to repeat the mistakes we have made in the past, ”he added.
The EU is using the commercial law for the proposed prohibition to avoid any possible veto by Hungary or Slovakia, as reported by the FT on Monday.
The block will trust the so -called “security exemption” under the rules of the World Trade Organization. This has been used by the Trump Administration, with Brussels so far reluctant to invoke it for fear of the precedent it establishes for other countries.
Jørgensen said that, unlike the sanctions regime, which is subject to unanimous support for the 27 EU governments every six months, the proposed prohibition “will remain until someone decides to change it.” He described the measure as “unprecedented and forceful.”
EU officials said the ban could result in cases of arbitration, but that the proposal was clear enough for companies to invoke force majeure clauses in their contracts.
Several countries have expressed concern that the legal basis for the prohibition would not be strong enough to allow companies to resort to force force clauses in their existing contracts without paying strong sanctions to Russia.
Unlike other fossil fuels, the EU prohibited Russian coal imports in 2022 and the G7 introduced a price limit into Russian oil in 2023, gas has not been subject to EU restrictions. Even so, most countries have stopped importing Russian gas, especially Germany, despite the fact that their economy was severely affected as a consequence. However, Russian liquefied natural gas imports have increased, with a record of 16.5 million tons imported last year.
European officials have previously discussed whether a return to Russian gas should be part of the peace negotiations with Russia, and the commission firmly opposes such a step. Brussels is also proposing a prohibition of Nord Stream pipes that connect Germany with Russia, a measure backed by German chancellor Friedrich Merz as a way to quell any possible internal discussion about returning to Russian cheap gas.
Leonore Gewessler, the former Austrian Energy Minister, said Tuesday that Vienna’s positive signals for Russian gas imports “would take the country” on a completely false path and embarrass Austria at the EU level. “
Austria has depended largely on Russian natural gas for decades, importing around 80 percent of its gas from the country before the war in Ukraine. This agency was backed by long -term contracts between the Gazprom of Russia and the OMV of Austria, of which the Government has 31.5 percent. OMV cut the ties with Gazprom in a historical break last December after a long contract dispute.
Vienna has taken measures to diversify its supply, particularly obtaining gas from other European countries such as Germany. The country, which is politically neutral but supports the sanctions, has faced criticism for delaying to reduce this dependence since the war began.
Its neighbors Hungary and Slovakia, who continue to depend on Russian gas and who are led by governments favorable to Russia, have been vowels in opposition to the commission’s plan to end all imports of Russian fossil fuels by 2027.
Italy, which imported the greatest amount of Russian gas last year according to the group of experts, previously also floated the option to resume gas imports once the war ends, in discussions behind closed doors.
A spokesman for the Italian Energy Minister declined to comment.
Additional Amy Kazmin reports in Rome
