As EU energy ministers met in Luxembourg today to discuss energy security ahead of winter, Ukrainian campaign group Razom We Stand is calling on EU governments to make energy savings and homegrown renewables the core of Europe’s response to the Hormuz crisis, and to keep the ban on Russian LNG on schedule for 1 January 2027.
Europe’s benchmark gas price crossed €100 per megawatt-hour on Wednesday for the first time since the 2022 energy crisis, and the EU is entering winter with gas storage at its lowest level for the time of year since records began in 2011. The Irish Council presidency’s options paper for today’s meeting asked how the EU should prepare if the Strait of Hormuz stays closed, but did not mention the Russian LNG phase-out, and some energy companies are already calling for a delay.
Saving gas is what makes the ban work. The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis (IEEFA) estimates that, with the Russian LNG ban in place, the EU may need to use about 7% less gas this winter than last. Europe has done this before: EU gas demand fell by 17.7% between 2021 and 2025.
Dr Svitlana Romanko, Executive Director of Razom We Stand, said:
“Europe is heading into winter with its gas storage at record lows, and the Kremlin is cashing in. Every cubic meter of gas Europe saves this winter is one it does not have to buy from Russia at crisis prices, money that ends up paying for Russia’s war against Ukraine. Governments should cut demand the smart way, with insulation, heat pumps and cheaper solar, and protect the households hit hardest by high bills. The Hormuz crisis must not become an excuse to delay the ban on Russian LNG on 1 January. Free wind and solar power do not need to pass through the Strait of Hormuz or leave from Russian ports. It’s time for European leaders to more strongly support homegrown renewables, which are the cheapest and most secure energy Europe has.”
Russia is profiting from the crisis. The Hormuz disruption added an estimated €31 billion to Russia’s oil and gas export revenues in six months, and the EU paid 73% more for Russian LNG in September than a year earlier for roughly the same volume. Russian LNG still made up about a fifth of EU LNG imports in the second quarter, and Europe paid around €7.9 billion for LNG from Russia’s Arctic LNG project in the first nine months of 2026, according to Urgewald.
The case for clean energy as security keeps growing. On 21 October, European Central Bank economists found that renewables and efficiency have made the euro area less vulnerable to fossil fuel price shocks. The Energy Transitions Commission, whose members include executives from Shell, HSBC and ArcelorMittal, has concluded that clean energy systems are structurally immune to Hormuz-type supply shocks.
Razom We Stand is calling on EU governments to:
- Agree coordinated EU demand reduction that prioritises efficiency, heat pumps, rooftop solar and building renovation, with targeted support for vulnerable households rather than blanket fossil fuel subsidies.
- Confirm that the 1 January 2027 ban on Russian LNG will apply on schedule, with no suspension or delay.
- Fast-track renewables, storage and grids to cut the gas burned for power this winter and next.
- Bring forward the proposal to phase out Russian oil before the end of the year.
