A new report reveals that the anti-Russia, pro-Ukraine EU - spent more money on Russian oil and gas in 2024 than they did on military aid to Ukraine.
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According to the report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), the EU spent approximately $23 billion on Russian fossil fuels vs. $19.6 billion on military and financial aid to Ukraine.
Meanwhile, China purchased at least $82 billion of Russian energy, India spent $51 billion, and Turkey spent $36 billion.
In total, Russia raked in $254 billion on energy exports.
"Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Europe has made significant progress in terms of energy independence. Imports of Russian oil and gas have decreased substantially, with gas imports dropping from 45% in 2021 to 18% in 2024," said EU MP Thomas Pellerin-Carlin in response to the report.
"However, a quarter of Russia's fossil fuel export revenues still come from Europe," he continued.
And despite EU efforts to reduce Russian dependence, member nations spent 7 billion euros ($7.3 billion) on Russian natural gas in the third year of the Ukraine war - an increase of 9% vs. 2023.
According to CREA, increased sanctions on Russia could reduce the Kremlin's fossil fuel revenues by $51 billion euros ($53.3 billion).
"Due to insufficient sanctions and loopholes, Russia has earned over 825 billion euros ($862.9 billion) from fossil fuel exports since the start of their invasion of Ukraine," according to Isaac Levi, CREA's Europe-Russia Energy policy analyst.
As American Greatness' Eric Lendrum notes further,
Overall, Russia’s oil exports have decreased by just 8% since the start of the war in 2022, despite overwhelming condemnation and sanctions from most Western nations. Since the war began in February of 2022, Russia has made nearly $1 trillion in oil exports alone.
One major reason for Russian exports remaining strong is that, even after numerous sanctions, the average price of Russian oil is still cheaper than other sources such as the Middle East.
Another reason why Europe has remained dependent on Russian energy is the anti-energy policies of the previous Biden Administration. After the start of the war, many European countries prepared to abandon Russian energy in favor of American exports. However, Biden’s White House soon banned liquefied natural gas (LNG) exports in the name of combatting so-called “global warming,” thus forcing Europe back to the Russian energy market. President Donald Trump rescinded the LNG export bans with an executive order on his first day back in office.
