Europe Threatens Nord Stream 2 Sanctions to Pressure Russia on Cease-Fire
Moscow had discussed reviving gas pipeline in talks with Trump on improving economic ties with Washington
Kyiv’s European allies threatened new sanctions against Russia, including a permanent block on the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline that connects Russia to Germany, if the Kremlin doesn’t agree to President Trump’s 30-day cease-fire in its war with Ukraine.
At a summit of European leaders in Kyiv on Saturday, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also said that the bloc would double the number of vessels on a blacklist for carrying Russian oil. The U.K. took a similar step this week.
Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters in Moscow that Russia is ready for direct talks with Ukraine as early as next week in Istanbul, according to Russian state news services. But in a sign that he would be taking a tough stance, he said the negotiations would be a resumption of talks broken off at the end of 2022, when Moscow pushed for sweeping concessions by Kyiv.
“We propose to begin without delay next Thursday, May 15, in Istanbul, where they were held earlier and where they were interrupted,” Putin said.
Leaders in Europe are hoping to capitalize on Trump’s warning Thursday that Washington would impose sanctions on whichever side of the three-year conflict doesn’t stop the fighting for 30 days. The Trump administration hopes the cease-fire, which it says should be unconditional, can lead to a lasting truce and help build a durable peace deal between Ukraine and Russia.
The Kremlin has raised the issue of reviving Nord Stream in talks with the Trump administration, according to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, as part of discussions on improving economic ties between Moscow and Washington. European Union sanctions would close off any such effort at restoring the flow of gas through it.
European officials want the Trump administration to tighten the screws against Russia to get Moscow to end the war that it started in 2022. On Saturday, the leaders of Britain, Germany, France, Poland and the EU traveled to Kyiv to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“Alongside the U.S., we call on Russia to agree a full and unconditional 30-day cease-fire to create the space for talks on a just and lasting peace,” the leaders said in a joint statement.
Nord Stream 2, a totemic infrastructure project built despite the Kremlin’s seizure of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea in 2014, symbolized Germany’s deepening economic relationship with Russia. The project was deeply opposed by Ukraine, many Eastern European countries and the first Trump administration, which sought to throttle it with sanctions, warning it was making Germany dependent on Russia.
The pipeline was completed in 2021, but never came online because Germany put on hold the certification of the project just before Russia invaded Ukraine. In a coordinated move, the Biden administration sanctioned the company behind it hours later.
EU officials said von der Leyen discussed the idea of the bloc sanctioning Nord Stream 2 with Germany’s new Chancellor Friedrich Merz when he visited Brussels on Friday. The move would need the backing of all the bloc’s member states. It would come separately from the newly proposed EU sanctions package, meaning it could take effect if Russia refuses or violates a cease-fire.
Zelensky said after meeting the European leaders that Ukraine was ready for a 30-day cease-fire starting on May 12.
“The cease-fire must last 30 days to give diplomacy a real chance,” he said, warning that any Russian attempt to condition a cease-fire would be “a sign of an intent to prolong the war.”
Russia has said it might accept a monthlong cease-fire, but it needs the West to stop sending weapons to Ukraine. Moscow has repeatedly refused serious peace efforts backed by the U.S. and agreed to by Ukraine, until the “root causes” of the conflict are resolved—Russian shorthand for attempts to integrate Ukraine with the West.
The EU this week ratcheted up economic pressure on the Kremlin by detailing plans to cut most energy imports from Russia by 2027. That plan includes a ban on short-term gas import contracts at the end of 2025 and the canceling of long-term gas import contracts by 2027. Europe spent around 23 billion euros last year, equivalent to about $25.9 billion currently, importing energy from Russia.
While EU officials say they will forge ahead with the energy ban regardless of a peace deal, there has been speculation in recent months that the bloc could ease the prohibition if Russia accepts a fair peace deal for Ukraine.
Europe was by far Russia’s major energy export market before its 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Flagging energy exports and a fall in the price of oil have forced Russia to recently triple its budget deficit target.
The election of Merz, a conservative who has taken a hard line on Russia, has energized European efforts to pressure Putin into peace talks with Ukraine.
On Saturday, Merz, in an interview with the Bild newspaper, threatened Putin with “massively aggravated sanctions” should the Russian president reject the offer of a 30-day cease-fire and refuse to negotiate a peace deal.
A senior German government official said Saturday that the new government was determined to take all political and legal measures to prevent the pipeline’s revival.
Merz has privately spoken of his disdain for Putin and criticized his own predecessors’ policies that saw Germany become reliant on Russian gas exports.
Nord Stream 2 was constructed with support by former chancellor Angela Merkel. Nord Stream 1 runs in parallel to the pipeline but is also offline.
In September 2022, a team of Ukrainian divers and soldiers blew up both pipelines by laying mines at the bottom of the Baltic Sea. Only one of Nord Stream 2’s pipes survived the attack intact.
The European visit to Ukraine comes after Putin welcomed his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping and other friendly leaders to Moscow for a World War II victory parade Friday. Russia has been more open about the support it is receiving from its allies in the war, with the Kremlin recently acknowledging the assistance it has received from North Korea.
Meanwhile, Iran is stepping up its backing for Russia, according to two Western officials. Iran will provide launchers for the short-range missiles it supplied to Russia last year, the officials said. Iran has also supplied drones and drone technology to Russia since its invasion of Ukraine, leading to fresh Western sanctions on Tehran.