A fight is brewing in the EU over returning to Russian gas supplies after the war in the Ukraine ends.
The Baltics and Poland are opposed, while
European officials are debating whether Russian pipeline gas sales to the EU should be restarted as part of a potential settlement to end the war against Ukraine, according to people familiar with discussions.
Advocates of buying Russian gas argue it would bring down high energy prices in Europe, encourage Moscow to the negotiating table, and give both sides a reason to implement and maintain a ceasefire.
But raising the idea of reopening flows of Russian gas into Europe, even in preliminary discussions, has already sparked a backlash among Ukraine’s closest allies in the EU.
Three of the officials briefed on the talks said the idea had been endorsed by some German and Hungarian officials, with support from other capitals that saw it as a way to reduce European energy costs.………
Floating the resumption of pipeline sales from Russia has infuriated Brussels officials and diplomats from some eastern European countries, many of whom have spent the past three years working to reduce the amount of Russian energy being imported into the bloc.
Not sure how this is going to shake out, but it's clear that heavy industry in Europe has been absolutely hammered by high energy prices, and the high price of LNG imports does not help.
It is going to be interesting to see where this all goes.
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