EU ambassadors agree on law to end Russian oil and gas imports by 2028 – media

European Union ambassadors agreed on Wednesday to move forward with the bloc’s plan to end imports of Russian oil and gas by 2028, overcoming the first political hurdle before governments vote on it later this month, Reuters reported, citing EU diplomats.

"The EU is negotiating legal proposals to phase out Russian oil and gas by January 2028, attempting to deprive the Kremlin of revenues to fund its war in Ukraine. In a closed-door meeting on Wednesday, EU ambassadors agreed to forward the proposed law to their ministers for approval at a meeting on October 20," three diplomats told Reuters.

If approved, Russian gas imports would be phased out under new contracts from January 2026, followed by existing short-term contracts from June 2026 and long-term contracts in January 2028.

The agency said almost all EU countries had expressed support for the plans, suggesting they would be easy to pass despite criticism from Hungary and Slovakia, whose governments seek to maintain close ties with Russia.

The plans must be approved by a "qualified majority" of EU member states, or at least 55% of them. EU countries and lawmakers will then negotiate the final version of the law.

One of the outstanding issues is whether exports of liquefied natural gas to Europe should be pre-approved before delivery, and whether its origin should be checked by customs authorities upon arrival at EU ports to ensure it is not Russian.

France and Italy have said they support the overall plan but want deliveries to be either pre-approved – if authorities can do so quickly – or checked by authorities upon arrival in the EU to ensure compliance with the ban, EU diplomats said.

Countries such as Hungary, France and Belgium still import Russian gas, which accounts for 12% of EU gas imports, down from 45% before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

The law will oblige Hungary and Slovakia, two countries that still import Russian oil, to develop national plans to end these imports by 2028.

Separately, the EU is also negotiating a new package of sanctions against Russia to ban LNG imports a year earlier, in January 2027.