Reacting to speculation about the idea of Europe resuming the import of gas from Russia as a way of facilitating a peace deal in Ukraine, Polish officials have reacted negatively and are advising against any reliance on Russian gas, having called for sanctions to be imposed on sales of Russian LNG.
According to Polish energy portal Energetyka24, Polish European affairs minister in the Tusk government Adam Szłapka on January 29 confirmed that Poland wanted “tougher sanctions against Russian gas to include LNG sales” and that Poland has “no intention of going back to Russian gas in any shape or form, nor would it advise anyone else to do so”.
Poland has stopped importing gas from Russia, having constructed the Baltic Pipe to access Norwegian gas supplies and signed contracts for significant supplies of LNG from the US and Qatar.
The country was a vocal opponent of both the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines being constructed through the Baltic sea by Russia and Germany and it has been alleged that it was in some way involved in the blasts which put both pipes out of action in the Baltic sea in 2022.
During his first term as President in the US (2016-2020) Donald Trump lobbied actively for Europe to buy American LNG as an alternative to Russian gas and pointedly praised Poland for its plans to become free of reliance on Russian gas.
The Financial Times on 30 January reported that there are EU officials backed by Germany, Hungary and Slovakia who are pressing for the EU to offer Russia a return to the import of its gas in return for a peace deal in Ukraine.
According to FT, supporters of the idea of resuming gas supplies from Russia argue it would help in bringing down energy prices in Europe as well as encouraging Moscow to negotiate a ceasefire which would include the resumption of gas transit through Ukraine.
However, opponents of the idea point to the fact that resuming gas sales would boost Moscow’s revenues and would lead to potential conflict with the US which has threatened the EU with tariffs unless it purchases natural gas from America.
Any resumption of Russian supplies would mark a reversal of the bloc’s policy of getting rid of Russian fossil fuels from its markets by 2027 which was adopted as a reaction to Russia’s aggression in Ukraine.
According to the FT, American LNG exporters are concerned about the fact that resumption of transit of Russian gas through Ukraine would make their products uncompetitive on European markets.
Piped gas from Russia accounted for 10 per cent of EU supplies in 2024 but this has been halved as a result of the end of transit through Ukraine, leading to a crisis in gas supplies for Slovakia, and all that remains is the TurkStream pipeline through Turkey supplying Hungary.
However, Russian LNG is not sanctioned in Europe and, according to the FT, last year its imports into the EU reached record levels.
