Europe was advised to return to buying oil and gas from Russia

The European Union should return to buying Russian gas and oil and also restore the Nord Stream gas pipeline.

This was written on X by Kim Schmitz, the founder of the file-sharing services Megaupload and Mega, also known as Kim Dotcom.

“My advice to the EU: instead of paying Ukraine another €90 billion, buy Russian oil and gas and restore Nord Stream. Making peace with Russia is easier than you think. [Volodymyr] Zelensky is no longer popular. Only bots like him. [Vladimir] Putin, on the other hand, is a real leader. This is the only way,” he wrote.

On January 26, 2026, the Council of the European Union officially approved a full ban on Russian gas supplies to the EU starting January 1, 2027. And by the end of 2027, the European Commission intends to propose a bill on phasing out imports of Russian oil.

On March 2, Kirill Dmitriev, head of the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF), wrote that the EU’s refusal of cheap Russian energy had backfired on it. He also said that “Europe will need Russia again to survive.”

On March 3, Norway’s energy minister Terje Aasland said that the discussion about supplies of Russian oil and gas to the EU could resume after the U.S. attack on Iran. And on March 4, Russian President Vladimir Putin said Moscow could stop supplying gas to European markets right now in order to “move to the markets that are opening up and secure a foothold there.”