OR European Union will describe the Tuesday how he will try to stop the new Russian deals gas and gradually abolish existing contracts with Moscow, as it seeks to end decades -old energy relations with Europe’s former top gas supplier.

The EU has a non -binding goal of ending its dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2027, which it set after a full -scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

In this climate, the Commission will today publish a “roadmap” with more specific plans to achieve this goal, including through measures aimed at banning new Russian gas introductions and Spot contracts, sources told Reuters.

The Commission also evaluates legal choices that would allow European companies to discontinue existing Russian gas contracts by the end of 2027. Lawyers have said, however, that it will be difficult to rely on “majeure” to abandon these agreements and that buyers could deal with them.

Any such tools would not work immediately. The Commission should make legislative proposals in the coming months, which will require the approval of the European Parliament and an enhanced majority of EU countries, depending on the type of the proposed legal tool. Plans can still be modified before they are published on Tuesday.

It is noted that about 19% of Europe’s natural gas still comes from Russia, through the Turkstream pipeline and the transport of liquefied natural gas (Lng).

This percentage is much lower than the 40% supplied by Russia to Europe before 2022. But European buyers continue to have “take-or-pay” contracts with Gazprom, which require those who refuse gas traditions to continue to pay for the largest part of the conventional quantities.

According to Rystad Energy data, “Spot” markets made up about 31% of the Russian LNG bought by Europe last year.

As it is trying to reduce Russian imports, the Commission has been willing to buy more American LNG, one of the steps required by US President Donald Trump from Europe as a way to shrink the trade surplus with the United States.

The Commission is also concerned about energy prices and has stated that any measures to limit Russian energy imports must affect Moscow more than the EU and take into account the impact on fuel costs.

The imposition of sanctions would be the fastest way for the EU to stop imports of Russian gas. However, sanctions would require unanimous approval from all 27 EU countries, while Slovakia and Hungary – which continue to receive supplies from Russian pipelines – have vowed to oppose them.

In the meantime, the US is pushing Russia for a peace agreement with Ukraine, which, if achieved, can reopen the door for Russian energy and mitigate sanctions.

The Commission had initially planned to publish the road map in March, but delayed it in part because of the uncertainty about these developments.