Austria Urges EU to Reconsider Russian Gas Ban After Peace Deal

The European Union should be open to re-evaluating the ban on Russian gas imports it is currently seeking to enforce if a peace deal is brokered between Russia and Ukraine, a top Austrian official has said.  As the EU seeks to end its dependency on Russian energy, the European Commission is set to propose this week a ban on new contracts for natural gas supply with Russia on the basis of trade law. This would need a majority vote approval instead of a unanimous EU call.     The phase-out of Russian energy imports is part…