The EU has officially banned imports of Russian gas, although two countries objected. When the ban goes into effect and what's next

European Union member states on Monday gave final approval to a ban on Russian gas imports until the end of 2027, making their commitment to cut ties with their former main supplier a legal obligation.

EU ministers approved the law at a meeting in Brussels on Monday, although Slovakia and Hungary voted against it and Bulgaria abstained. Hungary has said it will challenge the law at the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has repeatedly threatened that his country would veto any new EU sanctions against Russian energy, including nuclear, and last year won an exception from the United States to new sanctions imposed by the Trump administration in October on Lukoil and Rosneft, Russia's biggest oil companies.

But the ban on Russian gas imports into the EU was designed to be passed by a consolidated majority of states, not a unanimous vote, which allowed it to overcome opposition from Hungary and Slovakia, which remain heavily dependent on Russian energy imports and want to maintain close ties with Moscow.

Under the agreement, the EU will stop imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia until the end of 2026 and pipeline gas imports until September 30, 2027.

The law stipulates that this deadline can be postponed, until November 1, 2027 at the latest, if a state faces difficulties in filling its storage facilities with non-Russian gas before winter.

Russian gas imports to the EU have fallen dramatically

Russia supplied more than 40% of the EU's gas before 2022, the year it launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This share has fallen to around 13% in 2025, according to the latest available EU data.

However, some member states continue to pay Moscow for oil, pipeline gas and liquefied natural gas, at odds with EU efforts to support Ukraine and limit financing of Russia's war economy.

Last month, the top five EU importers spent 1.4 billion euros ($1.66 billion) on Russian energy, mainly gas and LNG, according to data published by the non-profit Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air. Hungary was the biggest buyer, followed by France and Belgium.

The EU imposed sanctions on Russian oil carried by sea in 2022, but never adopted sanctions on gas imports, which would normally have required unanimous approval by all 27 member states.

Major penalties for European companies that do not comply with the ban

The law now passed by the EU bans companies from entering into new contracts for Russian gas and will force those with existing contracts to terminate them to comply with the ban.

For existing contracts, imports under short-term agreements signed before June 17, 2025 will be prohibited from April 25, 2026 for LNG and from June 17, 2026 for pipeline gas. Long-term contracts should be phased out until the final deadlines are set.

Companies risk financial penalties of up to 3.5% of their total global annual turnover in case of non-compliance.

The European Commission also plans to propose legislation in the coming months to phase out Russian oil delivered through pipelines and reduce states' dependence on Russian nuclear fuel.