German Far-Right AfD Confirms Direct Talks With Gazprom CEO on Resuming Russian Gas Imports

In Moscow, the foreign policy spokesman for Germany's Alternative for Germany (AfD) party sat down with the chief executive of Gazprom to negotiate the return of Russian natural gas to Europe's largest economy. Markus Frohnmaier met personally with Alexey Miller to discuss restoring the energy trade that Berlin severed following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, a meeting the party leadership formally confirmed this week.[1][2][3]

Beatrix von Storch, the deputy leader of the AfD's parliamentary group in the Bundestag, verified the Moscow trip in comments to Deutsche Welle on September 21. "Frohnmaier was in Moscow and spoke personally with Mr. Miller of Gazprom," von Storch said. "Naturally, we are interested in reestablishing trade. We need affordable energy and the broadest possible pool of suppliers, so we believe it is in our fundamental interest to receive supplies from Russia as well — which is why we are conducting these negotiations."[1][2][3]

The direct outreach to the Russian state energy monopoly aligns with the AfD's broader electoral strategy, which heavily leverages domestic frustration over high energy costs. During general budget debates in the Bundestag on September 9, AfD co-leader Alice Weidel explicitly demanded an immediate return to Russian energy imports, telling lawmakers, "We need cheap natural gas from Russia. We will work toward this."[1][3]

Before the 2022 invasion, Russia supplied approximately 55 percent of Germany's natural gas. The severing of that dependency cost Moscow its largest European market and forced Berlin to rapidly restructure its energy grid. The AfD is now openly working to undo that shift, a move the Kremlin has publicly welcomed as the party surges in regional elections across 3 eastern German states.[1][3]

The Frohnmaier-Miller meeting appears to be the precursor to a larger, formalized dialogue between the German far-right and the Russian government. Kirill Dmitriev, an economic adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin and head of Russia's sovereign wealth fund, has initiated coordination with AfD leadership to organize a bilateral conference on re-establishing gas contracts.[3]

According to Reuters reporting cited by multiple outlets on September 18, those high-level talks are tentatively scheduled for March 2027 and would involve Dmitriev alongside 2 AfD co-leaders, Weidel and Tino Chrupalla. The proposed summit, which organizers hope to hold in a third country such as Israel, the United Arab Emirates, or India, is reportedly contingent on a framework peace agreement being reached between Ukraine and Russia.[2]

The prospect of a German political party conducting independent energy negotiations with a sanctioned Russian state entity has triggered sharp reactions from the German political establishment. Green Party lawmaker Michael Kellner, who managed energy policy during the initial crisis, warned against the move. "Germany cannot become dependent on Russia again," Kellner said. "We cannot repeat the mistakes of the energy crisis. It cost us €50 billion. We cannot want to go back to that. It would be treason."

Christian Democrat lawmaker Roderich Kiesewetter echoed the sentiment, noting that Russia utilizes energy infrastructure as a hybrid weapon. "Reopening Nord Stream would be a disaster for European security and isolate Germany," Kiesewetter stated.

Despite the backlash in Berlin, the AfD lacks the federal executive authority to actually sign binding import agreements or reopen the dormant Nord Stream 2 pipeline, which retains an annual capacity of 27.5 billion cubic meters but has never been used. The negotiations currently function as a high-visibility signal to voters in eastern German states—where the party recently secured major electoral victories—that the AfD is actively pursuing the cheap energy it promised on the campaign trail.[1]