Crystal Dike
Ukraine is set to begin receiving vital supplies of US liquefied natural gas (LNG) this winter through a pipeline across the Balkans, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced during a visit to Athens on Sunday.
The deal follows Zelensky’s meeting with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Greece has committed to increasing the flow of American LNG to its terminals to “replace Russian gas in the region,” Mitsotakis said.
The European Commission has announced plans to ban all Russian gas imports to EU member states by the end of 2027, citing that revenues from such sales help fund Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Speaking in Athens, Zelensky said deliveries of US LNG would begin in January. “We rebuild each time the Russians destroy, but this truly requires time, much effort, equipment and, regarding gas… imports to compensate for the destruction by the Russians of our own production,” he said. Mitsotakis added, “Greece is becoming an energy security provider for your homeland.”
Ukraine has allocated nearly €2 billion ($2.3 billion; £1.8 billion) for gas imports from European partners and banks under European Commission guarantees, as well as from Ukrainian banks, covering imports through to March 2026, Reuters reported. Since 2015, Ukraine has not bought Russian gas directly and has relied on supplies from various EU states.
The Soviet-era Trans-Balkan pipeline links Ukraine to LNG terminals in Greece via Moldova, Romania and Bulgaria. Concerns have mounted over an energy crisis this winter after continued Russian attacks on Ukrainian energy facilities, particularly thermal power plants. The UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs warned that “the approaching winter poses new risks for Ukrainians… as intensified attacks on energy networks undermine efforts to maintain warmth in homes, schools and health centres.”
Meanwhile, Zelensky is in France, where he and President Emmanuel Macron signed a letter of intent to purchase up to 100 Rafale fighter jets, alongside potential deals for SAMP-T air defence systems, radar systems, and drones. The agreement, signed at Villacoublay air base near Paris, is not a purchase contract.
Last month in Sweden, Zelensky signed a letter of intent to acquire 100–150 Gripen fighter jets. During his France visit, he also toured Mont Valerien, near Paris, the planned headquarters for a future multinational force that could help oversee a Ukraine-Russia ceasefire.
Fighting continued overnight in Ukraine. Six people were reportedly killed in Russian attacks in the Kharkiv, Kherson, and Donetsk regions, while Russia’s military claimed control of three additional Ukrainian villages in Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Dnipropetrovsk regions. None of these reports could be independently verified.
Since the full-scale Russian invasion in February 2022, tens of thousands of people, mostly soldiers, have been killed or injured, and millions of civilians have been displaced.