Crea: The European Union remains the largest buyer of pipeline gas and LNG from Russia

Between February 24, 2022, and September 2025, the European Union has remained Russia’s largest gas market — both for pipeline supplies and liquefied natural gas (LNG).

This was reported by The Guardian, citing calculations from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Since that time, the EU has purchased 35% of Russia’s pipeline gas exports, followed by China (30%) and Turkey (29%). Over the past month, Hungary was the leading buyer, with purchases worth €393 million, followed by Slovakia (€207 million).

Roughly half of all Russian LNG exports go to European countries, while China (22%) and Japan (18%) lag significantly behind. According to various sources cited in the article, since the start of the conflict in Ukraine, countries have bought €42 billion worth of Russian LNG.

Most of the EU’s pipeline gas purchases came in earlier years, when fuel was still being transported through Ukraine’s gas transit system. Since 2025, this route has been halted, and deliveries now continue only through one branch of the TurkStream pipeline, with a capacity of 15.5 billion cubic meters per year.

The EU also plans to completely stop buying Russian LNG starting in 2027. The relevant measures are included in the 19th package of sanctions, approved last week.