On New Year's Day, Russian natural gas exports to Europe through old Soviet pipelines that pass through Ukraine came to a halt as the transit deal ended, and no new agreement was made between Moscow and Kyiv to continue the flows.

This stoppage marks the end of a decade-long period of tense relations following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. Ukraine had stopped buying Russian gas back in 2015. "We stopped the transit of Russian gas. This is a historic event. Russia is losing its markets, it will suffer financial losses. Europe has already decided to abandon Russian gas," Ukraine’s Energy Minister German Galushchenko stated.

The pause was expected due to the ongoing conflict, which started in February 2022. Ukraine declined to renew the deal in the midst of the war. Transit expenses will cost Ukraine an estimated $800 million a year as a result of the suspension, while Gazprom will lose about $5 billion in gas sales. Russia's gas exports to Europe, which used to make up 35% of the continent's gas supply, have been sharply reduced. Important pipelines like Yamal-Europe, which passed through Belarus and Nord Stream to Germany are no longer working, with Nord Stream being destroyed in 2022. Now, Russia mainly depends on the TurkStream pipeline, which delivers gas to Turkey and parts of Central Europe, such as Hungary and Serbia.

Volumes, however, have drastically decreased. Compared to the 65 billion cubic meters (bcm) of gas transported by Russia through Ukraine at the beginning of the last five-year deal in 2020, just 15 bcm were shipped in 2023. The halt signifies the breakdown of a gas export network that previously supplied a record 201 bcm to Europe in 2018, significantly changing the energy dynamics in the region.