BRUSSELS - European Union (EU) countries on Monday agreed their position on rules to gradually phase out imports of Russian natural gas, marking a key step in the bloc's efforts to end reliance on Moscow's fossil fuels under its REPowerEU strategy.

According to the Council of the EU, the proposal would prohibit imports of Russian gas from Jan 1, 2026, while allowing a limited transition period for existing contracts. Short-term contracts may continue until June 17, 2026, and long-term contracts may run until Jan 1, 2028.

The proposal also requires energy companies to disclose the origin and duration of all gas import contracts to enhance transparency and monitoring.

However, Hungarian Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto criticized the plan, saying on social media platform X that "With RePowerEU, our safe energy supply is being killed."

He argued that the policy "destroys the energy security of EU member states" and that "energy should not be about politics".

The initiative still needs to be negotiated with the European Parliament before becoming law. Once approved, the regulation will form part of the wider REPowerEU plan, launched in 2022 to accelerate the transition away from Russian fossil fuels.

According to EU estimation, Russian gas still accounts for about 13 percent of EU imports in 2025, worth over 15 billion euros (17.49 billion US dollars) annually.