Russia Claims EU Spent $320 Billion on Energy Since 2022
Russian officials and the European Commission dispute the total cost of EU energy imports from Russia as the U.S. resumes importing Russian diesel.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced that European Union countries purchased $320.7 billion in Russian energy resources between 2022 and 2026, despite sanctions related to the war in Ukraine. Novak noted that $21.3 billion of these sales occurred in the first nine months of 2026 alone, facilitated by exemptions for landlocked nations like Hungary and Slovakia, as well as liquefied natural gas imports by France.
The European Commission disputed these figures, reporting that the bloc spent $209 billion through July 2026. Commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen stated that EU dependency on Russian energy has declined from approximately 42-45% in 2022 to 12% currently. The Commission further asserted that its REPowerEU plan prevented an additional $278 billion in expenditures.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard criticized the continued imports, arguing that the EU has imported more from Russia than it has provided in support to Ukraine. She urged the bloc to use frozen Russian assets to increase aid to Kyiv, calling such a move a "game-changer."
Simultaneously, President Donald Trump authorized a deal with President Vladimir Putin to resume U.S. imports of Russian diesel to lower domestic fuel prices, involving a six-month suspension of certain sanctions. Trump and Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused European officials of hypocrisy for financing Russia while criticizing the U.S. diesel agreement. Trump claimed on Truth Social that the EU paid Russia $250 billion for energy, framing his own policy as "America First."
