Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, U.S. President Donald Trump’s special envoys, proposed to European Union officials that they resume larger purchases of Russian gas, which had declined after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, sources told The New York Times.
Witkoff and Kushner also proposed that Ukraine resume transit of Russian gas.
The envoys see restoring Russian gas exports to Europe as part of a peace settlement. They argue it would benefit both Ukraine, which would recover revenue lost when transit stopped, and European politicians, whose constituents are unhappy about rising energy prices.
Europeans rejected the proposal, The New York Times’ sources said. Some European and Ukrainian officials believe the United States wants Russian gas to return to Europe partly because it wants a stake in the exports, according to those sources.
The European Union still buys Russian gas, though purchases have fallen sharply since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine: Russian gas accounted for 45% of the EU’s gas demand in 2021, compared with just 13% in 2025. Ukraine has halted the transit of Russian gas to Europe since 2025, losing about a billion dollars a year in transit fees.
In recent weeks, Donald Trump reached an agreement with Vladimir Putin to supply Russian diesel to the global market, declined to impose “hell sanctions” on Russia, and began pressuring Ukraine to stop its strikes on Russian oil refineries. Trump has said the strikes are driving up diesel prices worldwide, including in the United States, though the main reason for the increase is the U.S. war with Iran and the blockade of the Strait of Hormuz.
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