The EU is trying to terminate its gas agreements with Russia without incurring penalties.

The European Union is exploring legal options to terminate long-term natural gas supply contracts with Russia’s Gazprom without incurring large penalties, as reported by the Financial Times. Officials from the European Commission indicated that declaring a force majeure is the leading approach. One unnamed official stated that paying compensation would contradict the goal of not funding Russia.

The EU has faced challenges in halting Russian gas imports. Although pipeline gas flows have drastically decreased due to the Nord Stream bombing and the end of the transit deal with Ukraine, LNG imports from Russia have increased, despite efforts to reduce and ultimately cease these imports.

The report comes as some European business leaders suggest they might support increasing Russian gas supplies to the continent. This week, various executives hinted at this possibility. Engie executive vice president Didier Holleaux mentioned that if a reasonable peace is achieved in Ukraine, annual flows could return to 60 to 70 billion cubic meters, including LNG. TotalEnergies’ chief executive Patrick Pouyanne noted that while Europe will not return to importing 150 billion cubic meters from Russia as before the war, he could foresee a return to 70 bcm. He emphasized the need for diversification in energy sources and criticized the premature celebration of U.S. LNG replacing Russian pipeline gas.

A leader from one of Germany’s largest chemical hubs remarked that reopening pipelines would lower prices more effectively than current subsidy programs. Christof Guenther called the topic taboo but noted that many executives agree on the urgent need for affordable Russian gas.