EU bought €7.2 billion worth of Russian LNG in 2025, estimates show

The European Union imported liquefied natural gas (LNG) worth around €7.2 billion from Russia in 2025, according to estimates cited by The Guardian.

Russia earned more than €7 billion from LNG supplies from its Yamal project to the EU last year, the newspaper reported, citing data from the German environmental group Urgewald.

Urgewald estimates that more than 15 million tonnes of Russian LNG reached European terminals in 2025. The EU’s share of total Yamal LNG shipments rose to 76.1%, up from 75.4% a year earlier.

Such imports remain legal under current EU sanctions.

According to The Guardian, Russia’s Yamal LNG plant is critically dependent on European infrastructure. LNG shipments from the Arctic rely on specialised Arc7 ice-class tankers capable of navigating polar ice. Without access to EU ports for unloading or transshipment, these vessels would be forced to take significantly longer routes to Asian markets.

Belgium’s port of Zeebrugge has emerged as one of the key hubs for Russian LNG. Urgewald data show that 58 LNG carriers delivered a total of 4.2 million tonnes to the port in 2025 alone. By comparison, 51 vessels carrying 3.6 million tonnes arrived at all Chinese ports over the same period.

France was the largest single importer of Russian LNG, with 87 shipments delivering 6.3 million tonnes to the ports of Dunkirk and Montoir-de-Bretagne.

• Under EU rules, 2026 will be the final year in which Russia can sell LNG to the bloc. Short-term contracts signed before June 17, 2025, will be permitted until April 25, 2026, while long-term LNG contracts may remain in force until January 1, 2027. A full ban on Russian pipeline gas imports is set to take effect later in 2027.