EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has pushed back against Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever’s suggestion that Europe should eventually normalise relations with Moscow and regain access to cheaper Russian energy, reopening a live fault line in Brussels on the eve of the European Council.
BRUSSELS — EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas has rejected a call by Belgian Prime Minister Bart De Wever to return, in time, to more normal relations with Russia and once again benefit from cheaper Russian energy supplies, in a dispute that lands just before EU leaders meet in Brussels to discuss Ukraine, defence, energy security and the Middle East.
De Wever had argued in an interview that, after a peace agreement in Ukraine, Europe should be willing to restore ties with Moscow and regain access to lower-cost Russian energy. Kallas responded by saying she had seen no appetite among EU leaders, either publicly or privately, for a return to “business as usual” with Russia.
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The exchange matters because it touches three linked questions at once: the durability of the EU’s Russia policy, the cost and direction of Europe’s energy transition away from Russian supply, and the degree of political space national leaders still have to question the post-2022 consensus.
It also comes at a sensitive moment. The European Council’s agenda for 19-20 March says leaders will address the military escalation in the Middle East, including consequences for energy prices and energy security, while also discussing security and defence, competitiveness and the war in Ukraine. In his invitation letter to leaders, European Council President António Costa likewise listed Ukraine, the Middle East, defence and security, competitiveness, the next long-term EU budget and migration among the summit’s main themes.
In that setting, any suggestion that the Union should keep open a path back to Russian energy is politically charged. Since 2022, the EU has steadily moved to reduce and then end its reliance on Russian fossil fuels. The Commission’s REPowerEU phase-out page states that it tabled legislation in June 2025 to ban remaining Russian gas imports and ensure the phase-out of Russian oil, while a February 2026 Commission energy announcement said the new gas regulation set legal provisions to end Russian gas imports by 2027.
That does not mean energy pressure has disappeared. Oil prices have risen as the conflict involving the United States, Israel and Iran has intensified, sharpening the broader European debate over affordability, resilience and external dependence. But Kallas’s intervention indicates that, from the EU foreign policy side, the answer is not a reopening to Moscow.
The dispute is also awkward because Belgium carries institutional weight in this debate. Brussels hosts the main EU institutions and remains central to decisions on sanctions, Ukraine policy and common energy measures. A Belgian prime minister publicly suggesting that normalisation with Russia could eventually be desirable inevitably draws attention well beyond Belgium’s domestic politics.
De Wever later clarified that any such normalisation would have to follow a peace agreement in Ukraine. Even so, the political damage was already done. Kallas’s answer was not framed as a technical objection but as a direct rebuttal of the premise that Europe should be preparing for renewed dependence on Russian supply.
The immediate consequence is unlikely to be a formal policy clash at this week’s summit. EU policy already points the other way, and the Commission’s legal and regulatory direction is clear. But the exchange does show that pressure points remain beneath the surface, especially when higher energy prices revive older arguments about competitiveness and industrial cost.
For Brussels, the issue is no longer simply sanctions. It is whether the Union can maintain a coherent strategic line on Russia while also managing the cost of energy shocks, financing defence, and sustaining support for Ukraine. Kallas’s response suggests that, at least for now, the political centre of gravity in the EU remains firmly against reopening the Russian energy door.
