The United States is backing a rapid resumption of Russian natural gas sales to Europe through pipelines crossing Ukraine, as part of negotiations aimed at securing an energy ceasefire before the coming winter, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday, citing United States, European and Ukrainian officials.
The idea was raised by US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff during trips to Moscow and Kyiv in September, according to the report. Under the proposal, Russian gas would be sold to Europe through a US intermediary, a structure intended to circumvent European sanctions, and one that people who attended the discussions said could create a lucrative opportunity for American investors.
The gas would travel through the Soviet-era pipeline network that runs from the Urengoi gas fields in Siberia to Europe via Ukraine. The route, which once carried the bulk of Russia’s pipeline gas westward, could be restarted almost immediately, the Journal reported, and would earn Kyiv badly needed revenue from transit fees. Russian gas transit through Ukraine stopped at the end of 2024, when Kyiv did not renew the transit contract.
White House officials proposed that Russia deposit the proceeds earned from these gas sales into an escrow account in a third-party jurisdiction, so that the Kremlin could not use the money to finance its war, a senior US official told the Journal. American negotiators have presented the arrangement to European governments as a way to lower energy prices ahead of a winter when Europe’s gas reserves have reached their lowest seasonal level in several years.
The plan faces formidable obstacles. The European Union has legislated a phase-out of Russian gas purchases, with pipeline gas banned by the end of September 2027, and the Journal reports that the bloc’s current official position is that it will not resume purchases even after a full peace agreement, let alone as part of a tenuous energy ceasefire that allows Russia’s president to continue the war while receiving funding for his military. EU Energy Commissioner Dan Jorgensen has said the ban on Russian gas imports should be permanent.
The proposal was put on the back burner last month after Ukraine unilaterally stopped striking Russian refineries under pressure from President Donald Trump. Kyiv resumed its air campaign on Friday, launching three attacks on three major Russian refineries in the past three days, according to the Journal, giving new urgency to the pursuit of a more comprehensive energy ceasefire ahead of three-way peace negotiations planned between the US, Russia and Ukraine for mid-November in Abu Dhabi. Russia has so far rebuffed American attempts to strike such a deal.
Readers should note that this story rests on the Wall Street Journal’s report as relayed by Reuters: Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report, and no government — in Washington, Kyiv, Moscow or Brussels — has publicly commented on it. The proposal is therefore a reported plan, not a confirmed policy.
Note: the featured image is a file photo of pipeline expansion loops, not a photograph of the pipelines discussed in this article.
Sources: Wall Street Journal, “U.S. Pushes to Restore Russian Gas Sales to Europe Via Ukraine”, 2 November 2026, https://www.wsj.com/world/europe/u-s-pushes-to-restore-russian-gas-sales-to-europe-via-ukraine-0ca62dc7 ; Reuters, “US pushes to restore Russian gas sales to Europe via Ukraine, WSJ reports”, 2 November 2026, https://www.reuters.com/business/energy/us-pushes-restore-russian-gas-sales-europe-via-ukraine-wsj-reports-2026-11-02/
