Report: US working to return Russian gas to Europe via Ukraine

The Trump administration is working to resume the flow of natural gas from Russia to Europe through pipelines in Ukraine, as part of efforts to achieve a ceasefire before winter. Envoys Witkoff and Kushner proposed a sale through an American intermediary. Europe opposes and warns of renewed dependence on Moscow.

The Trump administration is working to resume the flow of natural gas from Russia to Europe through pipelines crossing Ukraine, as part of efforts to achieve an energy ceasefire before winter. This was revealed Monday by the Wall Street Journal, based on American, European, and Ukrainian sources. American envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner raised the proposal during their visits to Moscow and Kyiv in September. The plan includes selling Russian gas through an American intermediary, in an attempt to bypass European restrictions. The White House also proposed depositing Russian revenues from gas sales into a trust account in a third country, to prevent Moscow from using the funds to finance the war. Europe strongly opposes; EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jørgensen stated that the ban on Russian gas imports should be permanent. A senior official from a European country even compared the proposal to the 1938 Munich Agreement. The initiative was frozen last month after Ukraine stopped attacking refineries in Russia, but on Friday Kyiv resumed the attacks. Trilateral talks between the US, Russia, and Ukraine are planned for mid-November in Abu Dhabi.