After a night of marathon talks between the US and Russia in Moscow over the war in Ukraine, there is little indication of progress towards peace in today’s reporting.

Elsewhere, the European Parliament and Council have agreed a new timetable for a permanent ban on Russian gas imports. Brussels is also considering new Chinese-style requirements on the percentage of locally made content in EU goods.

EU to end Russian energy imports

A meeting yesterday of the European Parliament and European Council has produced an agreement to set out “rules to phase out Russian gas imports”.

The European Council announced this morning that the provisional agreement “introduces a legally binding, stepwise prohibition on both liquefied natural gas (LNG) and pipeline gas imports from Russia, with a full ban from the end of 2026 and autumn 2027 respectively”.

There will be a transition phase for firms with existing supply contracts, with imports under short-term contracts concluded before 17 June 2025 facing prohibition from 25 April 2026 for LNG and 17 June for pipeline gas.

For firms with long-term contracts on LNG, the prohibition on importing will apply from 1 January 2027, while for pipeline gas it will begin from 30 September 2027 – though it is stipulated that this will require member states to be “on track to fulfil the storage filling targets foreseen in the gas storage regulation, and at the latest on 1 November 2027”.

Lars Aagaard, the Danish minister for climate, energy and utilities said, “we have to put an end to EU’s dependence on Russian gas” and that “banning it in the EU permanently is a major step in the right direction”.

Oil at sea

Russia’s oil exports are also being strained in the shorter term, taking longer to reach their destinations as a result of US sanctions and other pressures, a Bloomberg report suggests.

Volumes of Russian crude at sea have increase by a fifth in three months, while average voyage time from loading to discharge rose to over 12 days in November for Eastern Siberia–Pacific Ocean (ESPO) crude.

Over 180 million barrels of crude were on tankers still at sea by the end of November, as Russian ships divert away from the Red Sea, move away from originally planned Indian destinations following US sanctions and face sporadic attacks by Ukraine.

Critical goods

The EU is also weighing up new targets that would require as much as 70% of the content of ‘critical’ products to be made within the bloc if the firms producing them made use of public money through procurement contracts or state-backed loans and grants.

Thresholds for locally made content would be sector-dependent, while the FT reports that the policy proposal, which is being overseen by French commissioner Stéphane Séjourné, could come at a price of €10bn for European firms due to the higher price of European-made components.

One official told the publication that the proposal looks to mirror measures taken by the Chinese government that require foreign firms to join with domestic Chinese counterparts to access the country’s market. The source added:

“What we are trying to propose is a delicate balance between a much-needed protection of our industry and openness, which is dear to Europe’s DNA.”

US online retail sales soar

US online retail sales have beaten expectations this month, rising 7.7% in the ‘Cyber Week’ following Thanksgiving to hit US$44.2bn following sales of $41.1bn in the same period last year.

The US’ National Retail Federation (NRF) said there was a “record turnout” of consumers in the US this year, and the organisation also noted in November that while “recent economic data has been mixed”, consumer spending has remained “solid” as a result of wage growth and low unemployment.

Consumer confidence dropped to its second-lowest level in five years in November, and retail sales rose only 0.2% in September. Wholesale inflation also ticked up that month to 2.7%, higher than some economists’ expectations.

Elsewhere in the headlines

·        The UK government is investing £10m in next generation Mercedes-AMG electric vehicle motors

·        Russia and the US failed to reach a compromise on a Ukraine peace deal at five-hour talks yesterday in Moscow

·        UK pension firms are offloading US stocks over fears about an ‘AI bubble’

Yesterday in trade

·        The UK and US struck a deal to avoid tariffs on UK pharmaceutical imports – at the price of higher NHS spending on US medicines

·        Prime minister Sir Keir Starmer called trade “vital for productivity”

·        The OECD warned that higher taxation and lower spending would hit UK growth in 2026

You can read these stories and more in yesterday's edition of The Day in Trade.