No EU appetite for Russian gas so far, as US and European negotiators discuss Ukraine peace deal

EU diplomats say there is no plan to resume buying Russian gas, as Ukraine holds talks in Brussels on post-war economic recovery and security guarantees. “As a principle, the EU is sticking to abandoning fossil-fuel dependency on Russia,” said one EU diplomat. A second diplomat said: “We don’t see any rationale at the moment to ease sanctions or restrictions on Russia, in any sector. On the contrary, in light of the barbaric and cynical attacks on Ukrainian civilians and civilian infrastructure, we see that more pressure and restrictions are needed.” A third diplomat also told EUobserver: “We’ve had two debriefings about talks with the US – buying Russian gas was not mentioned”. The diplomats spoke as EU, US, and Ukrainian officials held a third meeting in Brussels on Wednesday (4 November) and Thursday, following talks in a similar format in Miami, in the US, on 9 October and in Oslo on 20 October. The talks in Brussels involve national security advisers from France, Germany, the UK (the ‘E3’ group), and the US, as well as senior officials from the European Commission, Nato, and the World Bank. The E3 are expected to spearhead any post-war peacekeeping force in Ukraine. The Ukrainian delegation was headed by Ukraine's foreign intelligence chief, Rustem Umerov, as well as officials from the ministries of finance, economy, and defence, and from Ukrainian president Volodomyr Zelensky's office. Umerov said on X late on Wednesday that "representatives" from BlackRock, a giant US asset-management firm, also attended.