The European Union imported a record 9.89 million metric tons of liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia’s largest production plant during the first six months of the year, the Financial Times reported Monday.
The purchases mark an 18% increase compared to the same period in 2025. The spike comes despite the EU’s plan to completely phase out all imports of Russian LNG by the end of the year.
According to data from analytics firm Kpler cited by the FT, France led the purchases with 3.6 million tons, followed by Belgium at 2.9 million tons and Spain at 2.7 million tons. All of the shipments originated from the Yamal LNG facility, a plant that accounts for more than 60% of Russia’s total LNG exports.
The environmental and human rights NGO Urgewald estimates that those shipments cost the bloc up to 6 billion euros ($6.85 billion). By comparison, the EU spent a total of 7.2 billion euros on Yamal LNG imports in 2025.
Sebastian Rötters, a sanctions campaigner for Urgewald, noted that the record EU purchases coincided with a period during which Russia intensified its attacks on Ukrainian energy infrastructure and civilian targets.
Meanwhile, Yamal LNG volumes bound for Asia plunged 74% to 510,000 tons. Sources familiar with the matter told the FT that Asia-bound shipments dropped amid concerns over potential EU sanctions.
Despite collective efforts to sever energy ties with Moscow, the EU still relied on Russia for 13% of its total natural gas imports in 2025, a dependency that officials warn leaves the bloc exposed to significant trade and energy security risks.
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