Russia’s energy giant Gazprom announced that it had suspended natural gas supply to Europe through a pipeline running through Ukraine. 

In a statement on Wednesday, Gazprom said the suspension was due to Ukraine’s refusal to renew the agreement governing the deal. 

“Due to the repeated and clearly expressed refusal of the Ukrainian side to renew these agreements, Gazprom was deprived of the technical and legal ability to supply gas for transit through the territory of Ukraine from January 1, 2025,” Gazprom said in a statement on Telegram. 

This move marks the end of nearly six decades of Russian gas supplies to Europe through the Ukrainian pipeline. 

Ukrainian authorities said they had halted the agreement as Europe had already distanced itself from Russian gas. 

“We stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic event. Russia is losing its markets, and it will suffer financial losses,” Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko said. “Europe has already made the decision to abandon Russian gas.”

This comes amid lingering hostilities between Russia and Ukraine, which have lasted for about three years. 

Built during the Soviet era to transport Siberian gas to European markets, the pipeline running through Ukraine had been Russia’s remaining major gas supply channel to Europe after the Nord Stream pipeline to Germany was sabotaged in 2022.

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Europe has reduced its reliance on Russian gas.