More than two years after the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the decoupling from the Russian energy dependence remains elusive. Russia can still legally sell natural gas around the world.

Despite efforts by major European natural gas consumers like Germany and Italy to reduce dependence on Russian gas, it still accounts for 15% of the EU’s total gas imports, just behind the United States (19%) and ahead of North Africa (14%). Natural gas flows through TurkStream, which delivers Russian gas to Greece, the Western Balkans, and Hungary, are rising, thus making it the largest source of Russian gas exports to Europe.

To cut off the Kremlin from EU-generated gas profits and deprive it of its energy weapon after the transit of Russian natural gas through Ukraine ceases at the end of 2024, the EU must halt Russian gas transit through the European expansion of TurkStream. The current policy brief provides a comprehensive overview of Russia’s continued presence on the European gas market and proposes a complete phaseout of Russian gas from 2025.