The idea was promoted by US envoys Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff during trips to Moscow and Kyiv in September, and would involve selling Russian gas via a US intermediary to avoid European restrictions, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed US, European and Ukrainian officials.

The proposal was put on the back burner last month after Ukraine unilaterally stopped striking Russian refineries under pressure from US President Donald Trump, according to the WSJ. However, Kyiv has since resumed its attacks.

The US-Ukraine relationship reached a nadir last month after Trump struck a deal with President Vladimir Putin under which Washington would refrain from tightening sanctions on Russia in exchange for Moscow supplying limited volumes of diesel to the global market to curb rising prices. 

The push from the White House comes as the European Union is set to phase out imports of Russian gas next year, which will finally sever ties between the bloc and its once-primary energy supplier. European gas prices are at their highest in almost four years, driven in part by the conflict in the Middle East, which has taken nearly a fifth of global LNG exports off the market.

Pipelines running through Ukraine are intact and gas flows could resume quickly if the US plan becomes reality. Russian exports to Europe via Ukraine were halted when a transit agreement between the two countries expired at the end of 2024, and Kyiv refused to renew it.

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