EU triples Ukraine aid to Russia

EU has sent three times more money to Russia than Ukraine

Joachim Kerpner

Published 14.06

 

Russian oil tankers in the city of Novorossiysk. Photo: AP

EU countries have bought oil and gas from Russia for three times more than Ukraine has received in subsidies since the war began.

– There is no real desire to limit Russia’s ability to produce and sell oil, says activist Mai Rosner of the organization Global Witness to the BBC.
 

Quick version

• EU countries have bought Russian oil and gas for three times more than Ukraine has received in subsidies since the invasion in 2022..
• The sale of oil and gas is crucial to Russia’s war economy and constitutes a significant part of the country’s income and exports.
• Despite attempts to limit imports, the EU's purchases of Russian energy have remained high, partly due to concerns about what would happen to the global energy market.

The equivalent of SEK 2,200 billion has flowed from the EU to the Russians, while the Ukrainians have received SEK 700 billion in EU grants since the Russian invasion began in February 2022.

In US dollars, this is about $233 billion and $73 billion respectively, according to figures obtained by the BBC from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

Oil and gas sales are crucial to Russia's offensive war. They account for almost a third of Russia's total income and more than 60 percent of the country's exports.

Despite attempts to gradually limit EU imports of Russian oil and gas, they have remained at a high level. In 2024, Russian income from EU countries fell by only five percent, compared with 2023.

 

Photo: AP

– There is no real desire to limit Russia's ability to produce and sell oil. The fear of what it would mean for the global energy market is far too great. There is a limit that would undermine and disrupt energy markets too much if crossed, activist Mai Rosner of the advocacy group Global Witness told the

BBC.  

Others say it would be easy to do more. Imports of natural gas – so-called LNG – could be completely cut off, for example, according to Vaibahv Raghunandan of the CREA research center:

– Half of Russia's LNG exports are to the EU, while only five percent of the EU's total LNG consumption came from Russia in 2024. So if the EU decides to completely cut off Russian gas, it will hurt Russia much more than consumers in the EU, he tells the BBC.