The possible EU's refusal to import LNG from Russia

Alexey Belogoryev, Research and Development Director of the Institute for Energy and Finance, commented to RIA Novosti and the Prime news agency on whether the EU is really ready to impose an embargo on Russian LNG from January 1, 2027.

"The global LNG market is expected to become surplus in 2026. By 2027, it is possible to replace all these volumes - about 16 million tons, which are currently coming from Russia - with alternative suppliers. This is the calculation of the European Commission. However, there is concern in the EU, which has been growing since 2022, that Europe is becoming very dependent on the United States, perhaps even more so than on Russian gas at the time. And given the general strained economic relations between the United States and the EU, this causes some concern," he said.

"Qatar has reduced supplies to the EU quite sharply recently and hardly considers this market as the main one. If absolutely necessary, it is ready to leave it. Qatar and Russia are the second and third largest LNG supplies to Europe. If this happens, dependence on the United States will increase even more. This is worrying," the expert concluded.