Moscow and Washington are currently in talks on the possibility of restarting Nord Stream gas pipelines deliveries to Europe, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told Russia’s Channel One in an interview on March 26.

"Of course, there are differences. But is it only in the interests of Russia and the United States to restore normal energy supply in Europe? Nord Stream pipelines are being discussed," he said.

"It will be interesting if the Americans use their influence on Europe and will force it not to reject the Russian gas. That would look surreal," the Russian minister said.

In his words, "fuel costs are several times higher for Europe and its businesses than for US businesses."

Europe is facing a possible new gas crisis this year after a cold winter has seen gas in EU storage tanks fall to a three year low of 35% after Europe burnt an excess 10bn cubic metres of gas this winter due to the weather. In addition, Ukraine halted transiting Russian gas to Europe on January 1, removing another 10 bcm of gas from the market. That gas has been sourced from somewhere and the surviving strand of the Nord Stream pipeline could be turned on tomorrow and would carry 25bcm to Germany, making up the shortfall.

In anticipation of the shortfall, the EU recently suggested relaxing its rules that require gas tanks to be 90% full by November 1 in order to prevent driving up gas prices over the summer.

The looming energy shortage has led to talk of restarting limited supplies of Russian gas via the pipeline in the last months. One suggestion was to include restarting some piped gas delivery as a bargaining chip in the ongoing Ukraine conflict ceasefire talks. However, many in Europe are adamantly opposed to buying any Russian energy.

"At the same time, people like [Vice Chancellor of Germany] Robert Habeck, [European Commission President] Ursula von der Leyen, [German Defence Minister] Boris Pistorius – all of them say that they will never allow restoring the Nord Stream pipelines. These people are either [mentally] unhealthy or suicidal," the Russian minister said.

Despite the de facto ban on buying Russian gas, imports rose by 14% last year, with approximately 35 bcm coming to Europe via the southern TurkStream pipeline and another 48 bcm arriving as LNG. Altogether, Russia still accounts for around 15% of the EU’s gas imports.

According to the Russian Foreign Minister, "it will be interesting if the Americans use their influence on Europe and will force it not to reject the Russian gas,” Lavrov concluded.

Following the new Black Sea grain deal discussed on March 25 the US indicated that it is willing to lift some sanctions as part of bargains with the Kremlin.