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The European Commission is aiming to bring forward a ban on EU imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia by one year to the beginning of 2027 as part of the bloc’s 19th package of sanctions on Moscow.
“Europe is increasing its pressure,” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Friday.
“Russia’s war economy is sustained by the revenues from fossil fuels. We want to cut these revenues,” she said.
“We are banning imports of Russian energy into European markets. It is time to turn off the tap.”
The EU is ready for the ban thanks to efforts to save energy, diversify supply, and investments in low-carbon sources of energy, von der Leyen said.
Friday’s announcement came days after the commission president said she aims to achieve a faster halt to European fossil fuel imports from Russia following a conversation with US President Donald Trump.
Since Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the EU has imposed extensive import restrictions on Russian coal and oil. However, there have been no gas sanctions in place so far.

According to EU figures, the bloc imported LNG from Russia worth almost €4.5 billion (US$5.3 billion) in the first half of 2025.
Last year, Moscow still accounted for around a fifth of all gas imports to the EU. More than half came in the form of LNG.
The bloc’s 27 member countries have to back the new package unanimously before it can enter into force.
“Our sanctions bite and are having visible impact on Russia’s public finances and economic growth,” EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas said. “Those efforts must be reinforced collectively by the EU and its partners until peace can be achieved.”
The proposal for the new sanctions package also includes further punitive measures in the financial sector and additional trade restrictions, von der Leyen said.
The plans envisage denying further banks from Russia and Moscow-friendly countries access to EU capital markets and prohibiting transactions with them.
The commission also aims to crack down on the use of cryptocurrency platforms, which are used to circumvent existing sanctions.
“As evasion tactics grow more sophisticated, our sanctions will adapt to stay ahead,” von der Leyen said.


The new sanctions package also proposes additional trade restrictions, including new export bans on goods used by the Russian arms industry and measures against additional companies active in the area.
“In a war driven by innovation, cutting off Russia’s access to key technologies is crucial. Above all when it comes to drones,” the commission president said.
Kallas also announced measures against Russian nationals involved in the abduction of Ukrainian children.
“On top of waging war in Ukraine, Russian forces continue to tear Ukrainian children from their families and deport them to reeducation camps,” she said.
Under the plans, over 100 more ships that are part of the so-called Russian shadow fleet used to circumvent energy sanctions are no longer to be allowed to enter ports in EU countries, or be insured, financed or equipped by European companies.
This would bring the total amount of sanctioned vessels to around 560.
“We want Russia to leave the battlefield and come to the negotiation table. And this is the way to give peace a real chance,” von der Leyen said about the new proposal.
Trump has recently tied further US sanctions on Russia to European partners imposing high tariffs on Chinese imports and halting purchases of Russian oil.
Since his demand also included Nato ally Turkey, a major buyer of cheap Russian energy, it remains unclear whether an EU initiative alone would satisfy Washington.
EU members Hungary and Slovakia also continue to rely heavily on Russian crude oil.
Von der Leyen had initially announced that the bloc was preparing its 19th package of sanctions in August, soon after a wave of heavy air strikes on Kyiv which killed more than a dozen people and damaged the EU diplomatic office.


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European Union

‘Time to turn off the tap’ as EU aims to bring forward Russian gas ban

Gas pipelines at the Atamanskaya compressor station, part of Gazprom’s project outside the far eastern town of Svobodny, in Russia’s Amur region. The EU imported LNG from Russia worth almost €4.5 billion (US$5.3 billion) in the first half of 2025. Photo: Reuters

An LNG tanker moors at the dock of the Montoir-de-Bretagne LNG terminal near Saint-Nazaire in western France. Last year, Moscow accounted for around a fifth of all gas imports to the EU. More than half came in the form of LNG. Photo: AFP

EU to propose banning Russian gas imports by end of 2027

The EU is moving ahead with a long-held intention to phase out Russian fossil fuels. File photo: Reuters

The European Commission headquarters in Brussels. File photo: dpa

Aircraft fly in formation over Moscow’s Red Square during a rehearsal for this week’s Victory Day military parade. Photo: Xinhua

Russians told not to panic over ‘gas cloud’ near Ukraine-hit plant

A Ukrainian soldier prepares a drone in the Donetsk region in 2024. Ukraine on Monday struck Russia with dozens of drones, triggering fires at a major oil refinery and gas processing plant. Photo: AP

A fire triggered by Ukrainian drone strikes, according the local authorities, burns at a gas processing plant in Russia’s Astrakhan region, in this screengrab obtained from social media on February 3, 2025. Photo: via Reuters

Trump says Putin ‘losing more people than he’s killing’ in Ukraine war

Ukrainian servicemen prepare a tank to fire towards Russian troops in the Donetsk region on September 3. Photo: Reuters

US President Donald Trump (left) and British Prime Minister Keir Starmer at a press conference in Aylesbury, Britain, on Thursday. Photo: Reuters

Warsaw turns to Kyiv on drone warfare after Russian drones enter Polish airspace

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga (right) and his Polish counterpart
Radoslaw Sikorski (middle) look at drones as they visit an exhibition showcasing Ukrainian unmanned vehicles in Kyiv on Friday. Photo:  AFP

Police and army inspect damage to a house destroyed by debris from a shot down Russian drone in the village of Wyryki-Wola, eastern Poland, on September 10, 2025. Photo: TNS

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Europe

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, the EU has imposed import restrictions on Russian coal and oil but there have been no gas sanctions


Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, the EU has imposed import restrictions on Russian coal and oil but there have been no gas sanctions.


‘Time to turn off the tap’ as EU aims to bring forward Russian gas ban

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, the EU has imposed import restrictions on Russian coal and oil but there have been no gas sanctions

Since Moscow invaded Ukraine in 2022, the EU has imposed import restrictions on Russian coal and oil but there have been no gas sanctions