November 6, 2025
Mrs. Shaheen (for herself, Mr. Tillis, Mr. Wicker, Mr. Coons, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Bennet, Mr. McConnell, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Curtis, Mr. Cornyn, and Ms. Rosen) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations
Expressing the sense of the Senate regarding the European Union’s actions to diversify from Russian energy sources.
Whereas the Russian Federation’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has demonstrated the strategic risks of Europe’s dependence on the Russian Federation for energy, specifically oil and gas;
Whereas, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the United States, the European Union, and their partners imposed broad, punitive sanctions on Russia that limited Russia’s income sources from energy;
Whereas, in May 2022, the European Commission launched the REPowerEU initiative to phase out dependence on Russian energy sources before 2028, with milestones to stop existing spot contracts of Russian gas by the end of 2025 and to stop all imports of Russian liquefied natural gas by the end of 2027;
Whereas, since February 2022, the European Union has subsequently reduced its dependence on Russian fossil fuels by approximately 90 percent by cutting oil imports by more than 90 percent and reducing pipeline gas deliveries by roughly 80 percent;
Whereas most countries have undertaken significant measures to reduce their Russian energy imports in accordance with the REPowerEU initiative, Hungary and Slovakia have requested exemptions to the timeline and Hungary has actually increased its dependence on Russian energy by an estimated 30 percent since February 2022, by providing approximately $6,700,000,000 of substantial revenues to Russia, between February 24, 2022 and December 31, 2024, for crude oil alone;
Whereas, on September 23, 2025, President Donald Trump said European member states had to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia
;
Whereas, on October 23, 2025, the Council of the European Union adopted the 19th package of restrictive measures against the Russian Federation, including—
(1)
a ban on imports of Russian liquefied natural gas into the European Union;
(2)
a full transaction ban on Rosneft and Gazprom Neft;
(3)
measures against third country operators (which enable Russia’s revenue streams), 2 Chinese refineries, and a Chinese oil trader; and
(4)
strengthened enforcement against maritime circumvention and the shadow fleet
;
Whereas, on October 22, 2025, the United States imposed secondary sanctions on Lukoil and Rosneft; and
Whereas European Union member states Bulgaria and Hungary purchase Russian fossil fuels through Lukoil: Now, therefore, be it
That the Senate—
(1)
welcomes the European Union’s commitment and actions—
(A)
to end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels; and
(B)
to deny Vladimir Putin a critical source of revenue to continue funding Russia's war campaign in Ukraine;
(2)
welcomes the Trump Administration’s recent decision to sanction Rosneft and Lukoil and calls on United States allies and partners to terminate all contracts associated with both companies to avoid potential exposure to secondary sanctions;
(3)
encourages continued coordinated action among the United States and the Group of Seven countries, in addition to concerted action with the European Union and the United Kingdom to apply additional sanctions on Russian energy sources;
(4)
expresses concern that Hungary has shown no sign of reducing its dependence on Russian fossil fuels;
(5)
calls on Hungary and remaining consumers of Russian energy to fully adhere to the timeline agreed to in the REPowerEU initiative; and
(6)
underscores continued bipartisan opposition to the Nord Stream I and II pipeline projects and any effort to revive them, regardless of the home country of individuals or entities involved.