Dutch PM Jetten rejects Russian gas revival as 'very stupid idea'

Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten flatly rejected proposals to restore Russian gas supplies to Europe as part of a US-brokered peace settlement, calling the idea "very stupid" and pressing Washington to increase sanctions on Moscow instead.

Speaking alongside President Volodymyr Zelensky in The Hague on Wednesday, 28 October, Jetten responded to reports that US negotiators had floated the possible revival of Russian energy exports — including renewed crude flows through the Druzhba pipeline and a restart of the Nord Stream system — as economic incentives Moscow could receive under a settlement.

"The only way forward for Europeans, but also for Americans and others, is to put more sanctions on the Russian regime instead of less," Jetten said. He added that Europe had demonstrated since Russia's full-scale invasion that it could substantially reduce its dependence on Russian fossil fuels, and said he could "assure" that no European leader was willing to buy Russian gas in the coming years.

US envoys Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner have been involved in the negotiations with Russian and Ukrainian officials. The reported discussions also include the possible return of American energy companies to Russia, including joint oil production projects on Sakhalin.

The backdrop is a binding constraint: the European Union adopted legislation in January 2024 to permanently phase out Russian natural gas imports, with long-term Russian liquefied natural gas contracts subject to a timed wind-down under that timetable.

Jetten framed economic pressure as the lever most likely to compel Russia to halt hostilities. "What we want is Russia to stop this war, and as long as they don't, we will hit them hard in their pockets with sanctions," he said.