FEATURE |Russia/US discuss ways to restore Russian gas flows to Europe

US involvement would also benefit Washington, giving it visibility, and possibly some control, over how much Russian gas returns to Europe, two diplomatic sources and a White House source said.

Since 2022, Europe has turned to other gas providers, including US exports of liquefied natural gas (LNG).

US envoy Steve Witkoff and Putin's investment envoy, Kirill Dmitriev, have held conversations about gas as part of Ukraine peace talks, two of the eight sources said.

Witkoff's spokesperson declined to comment when asked if he discussed the issue of Russian gas exports to Europe.

"Currently, there are no such discussions," Russia's Direct Investment Fund, headed by Dmitriev, said in a statement to Reuters.

Gazprom would consider selling gas to Europe if a new owner took control of the gas network between Russia and Europe, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told French magazine Le Point in April.

On the route crossing the Baltic Sea Gazprom controls the two twin pipelines of Nord Stream 1 and 2 backed by European firms which hold stakes.

Moscow is ready to trade its gas and knows that some European countries still want to buy it, Peskov said in the Le Point interview. "There is a gas seller, there are potential buyers," Peskov told reporters in April.