EU Carves Out Russian LNG Transit Contracts From 2027 Ban After Greece Forces Deadlock Concession
A third-country exemption in the 21st sanctions package allows Russian LNG flows to continue past 2027 as first-half EU imports hit a record.
The EU agreed on Thursday (2026-07-23) to exempt certain Russian LNG contracts from its ban taking effect on 1 January 2027, provided the cargoes are destined for buyers outside the bloc. The carve-out was embedded in the bloc's 21st sanctions package after a month-long deadlock ended with the EU yielding to Greek demands, Montel reported.6,7
Greek-linked vessels have transported around €23 billion worth of Russian LNG since Russia's full-scale invasion began, according to estimates from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. That figure explains Athens' leverage: EU operators holding contracts to supply third-country buyers with Russian LNG can continue those cargoes past January 2027, keeping a commercial channel open that would otherwise close.7
Campaigners described the outcome bluntly. "It is shocking that the EU has granted this unnecessary carve-out to protect operators of Russian LNG," one told The Parliament Magazine, which characterised the 21st package as arriving "complete with enough carve-outs to keep Russian liquefied natural gas flowing." The exemption covers contracts for Russian LNG destined for buyers outside the EU, allowing those arrangements to run past the 2027 cutoff.7
The concession came as EU imports of Russian LNG were already at record volumes. The bloc imported 9.97 million metric tons from Russia's Yamal LNG facility in the first half of 2026, worth approximately $6.82 billion, a 16% rise on the same period a year earlier, OilPrice.com reported on 13 July 2026.5
An analyst told Montel on Wednesday (2026-06-10) that European buyers would likely continue lifting incremental Russian volumes ahead of the 2027 deadline, with imports already running 17% higher year-on-year. Buyers with existing contracts have every financial incentive to run them to term. The third-country carve-out provides an additional mechanism for those flows to persist past the nominal ban date.3
The Iran conflict has provided political cover for the softer stance. Eni's chief executive told Montel on Thursday (2026-05-21) that the EU should suspend its planned Russian LNG ban entirely, citing the global energy shock caused by the Iran war as justification. That position predates the 21st package by two months but reflects the political environment that shaped it.1
But replacing Russian supply was always the harder policy question, and the replacement picture remains incomplete. European buyers have resisted committing to long-term LNG contracts with US exporters, despite the Russian gas phase-out and Middle East supply disruption, OilPrice.com reported on 12 June 2026. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis forecast the EU could source as much as 80% of its LNG imports from the United States by 2028, but that projection depends on offtake commitments European utilities have so far declined to sign.4
The EU had tightened other elements of its Russian energy policy earlier this year. On Thursday (2026-05-21), the bloc adopted a ban on LNG terminal services for Russian companies, alongside a prohibition on maintenance for Russian LNG tankers and icebreakers, the European Commission said. That measure targeted Russia's capacity to expand production rather than the volumes already flowing to European and third-country buyers.2
Sanctions campaigners told The Parliament Magazine that the compromise allows a key pillar of Russia's war economy to continue operating at full capacity. Whether EU regulators move to tighten the third-country exemption before January 2027, or whether European operators instead use the window to lock in contracts routing Russian LNG to non-EU buyers past the cutoff, is the enforcement question the 21st package has left unanswered.7