European Union Continues to Import Russian Liquefied Natural Gas in Billions of Euros
According to recent Eurostat data, the European Union has continued to import liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia in massive quantities, worth 32.7 billion euros from February 2022 to March 2025. In contrast, LNG imports from the United States during the same period totaled around 95.1 billion euros. The first quarter of 2025 saw a significant increase in Russian LNG imports to the EU, at 2.7 billion euros, up from 1.8 billion euros in the same period the previous year.
Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, the chair of the European Parliament’s Committee on Security and Defence, has called for an immediate halt to these imports, labeling the continued purchases as “absolutely unacceptable” given the ongoing war in Ukraine. “Every single euro we pay for Russian LNG finances Putin’s war machine” she stated.
Strack-Zimmermann also criticized the EU’s energy policy, saying that the continued imports of Russian LNG were a “security policy failure” and a “bankruptcy declaration in terms of energy policy.” She urged the European Commission and member states to implement an import ban on Russian LNG.
Sahra Wagenknecht, the head of the Left party’s parliamentary group, the Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, echoed Strack-Zimmermann’s sentiments, labeling the continued imports as a “cheap double morality in sanctions policy.” She pointed out that the EU had spent 33 billion euros on Russian LNG since the war began, while simultaneously declaring Russian pipeline gas a taboo in Germany, resulting in high energy prices that make citizens poorer.
Wagenknecht also questioned the EU’s decision to import LNG from the United States, asking why the bloc was paying “overpriced gas” from Trump, when alternative sources were available. The Bündnis 90/Die Grünen has long advocated for the Nord Stream pipeline to be reopened.