Only Norway ranks higher among the bloc’s natural gas suppliers, and both are ahead of the US, a top think tank estimates
Russia has surpassed the US to become the EU’s second-largest natural gas supplier, according to an analysis cited by the German newspaper Die Welt on Sunday. This development carries significant symbolic weight.
After the outbreak of hostilities in the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Brussels made reducing its dependence on Russian energy a top priority. Expensive US liquefied natural gas (LNG) filled a significant portion of the market, exacerbating economic crises across the EU.
In the second quarter of 2024, Russian gas accounted for roughly 17% of all European imports, just ahead of US supplies, Welt reported, citing the Brussels-based think tank Bruegel. According to their data, European customers received 12.27 billion cubic meters of US LNG during that period, while Russia delivered 12.73 billion cubic meters to the bloc.
Russian supplies include both LNG and pipeline gas, which flows to the EU via Belarus and Ukraine and through the TurkStream undersea gas pipeline. Kiev, which receives transit fees for fuel delivered through its territory, threatened to halt operations after the current contract expires at the end of 2024. However, Kiev has indicated it is open to third nations, like Azerbaijan, increasing their use of Soviet-built infrastructure.
Dmitry Birichevsky, head of the economic cooperation department at the Russian Foreign Ministry, has characterized the gas import dynamics as evidence of the failure of EU sanctions policy.
“While it’s true that the indicators are significantly lower than before 2022, the facts speak for themselves,” he told RIA Novosti on Monday. “Greece alone has ramped up the purchase of Russian gas fourfold over 2023.”
Since before the Ukraine conflict, the US has sought to replace Russia as Europe’s energy supplier. The administration of President Donald Trump famously branded American LNG “molecules of freedom” when it pressured EU nations to choose it over Russian gas. Norway has historically been the top gas supplier to the market.
Moscow now views the EU as an unreliable customer, one that has demonstrated a willingness to prioritize US political goals over European economic needs.
“Under the circumstances of the de facto economic war declared on us, our plans to redirect foreign trade to the nations of the Global South and East remain a priority,” Birichevsky said.