US investors are pushing a proposal to activate Russia's Nord Stream 2 natural gas pipeline, The Financial Times reported, citing sources. 

The British daily suggests that the never-used route between Russia and Germany might potentially be used as leverage in the ongoing Ukraine peace talks.

According to FT, Matthias Warnig, former executive director of the Swiss-based Nord Stream 2 operator, is arranging the deal. Unidentified US investors are backing the idea in a "once unthinkable move that shows the breadth of [US President] Donald Trump's rapprochement with Moscow," the publication claimed.

During his first term in office, Trump was critical of Nord Stream 2, targeting it with sanctions, and even going so far as boasting in October that his actions "killed" the project.

Since he began his second term, however, Trump has ushered in a significant change in US-Russia relations, pursuing greater political and commercial connections with Moscow and indicating that Washington may "at some point" ease sanctions.

According to FT, Warnig's proposal involves US businesspeople reaching out to the White House as part of back-channel efforts to negotiate peace in Ukraine. Reports say a US-led investor consortium has outlined a post-sanctions agreement with Gazprom, the owner of Nord Stream 2. 

One senior US official claimed that investors would collect "money for nothing."

Nord Stream 2, which was supposed to supplement the already functioning Nord Stream 1, was finished in 2021 but never commissioned due to worries over the EU's growing reliance on Russian energy. 

In September 2022, the pipes were attacked by underwater explosives, resulting in catastrophic leakage. One string of Nord Stream 2 is still intact and stocked with gas, but Germany refuses to use it for fear of sanctions and political losses.

Russia has consistently emphasized being a dependable energy source. In January, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov stated that Moscow was interested in restarting gas sales to the EU as long as there were purchasers.

Brussels tried to reduce energy dependency on Moscow with the deepening of the Ukraine war in 2022, increasing purchases of more expensive LNG from the United States. Despite this, EU states continue to purchase both pipeline gasoline and LNG from Russia.

According to the Financial Times, EU officials were discussing restoring Russian pipeline gas supplies as part of a potential peace accord in Ukraine, with supporters claiming that this might decrease energy prices in Europe and boost the bloc's industrial sector.

In a recent interview for The Economist, presumed future German chancellor Friedrich Merz stated that there would be no return to Russian gas "for the time being" but did not rule out the possibility.