Donald Trump has criticized Europe for its continued reliance on Russian energy, highlighting the continent's role in financing Vladimir Putin's war efforts. Despite EU's reduction in oil imports, Russian natural gas still flows into Europe. Trump has proposed sanctions if NATO countries cease oil imports from Russia, a move that could significantly impact Russia's economy. However, the transition is expected to take time, and some EU countries remain heavily dependent on Russian energy.
Trump Criticizes Europe's Dependence on Russian Energy
Trump Criticizes Europe's Dependence on Russian Energy
Donald Trump has a point this time. Europe is still too dependent on Russian energy, thereby financing Vladimir Putin's war.
There have been many headlines recently about how China and India, with their large imports of oil from Russia, are helping to sustain Vladimir Putin's war economy.
Donald Trump has imposed 50 percent tariffs on India, but none on China. There are ready plans in the U.S. Congress for tougher sanctions against both countries.
Such punitive measures could seriously threaten Russia's economy if China and India were to significantly cut their imports.
But we are not there yet. U.S. President Donald Trump sometimes suggests he is ready to impose such tough sanctions, but so far, it's just words.
Over the weekend, he instead turned the spotlight on the U.S.'s NATO allies in Europe. Trump claimed he was ready to impose the tough sanctions, but only if the Europeans also join in.
So the latest message is that he promises to impose sanctions when all NATO countries "STOP BUYING OIL FROM RUSSIA," as he wrote in capital letters on Truth Social.
The U.S. has previously expressed similar demands to Europe at several meetings with European leaders and G7 meetings.
So what is the situation? Hasn't the EU stopped all imports of Russian oil and gas since Russia's invasion?
No, that's not the case. The EU has indeed significantly reduced its imports of Russian oil, but Russian natural gas still arrives in large quantities, mainly aboard ships transporting LNG where the gas is transported in liquid form.
Looking at the August figures from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, Crea, the EU tops the list in terms of Russian gas imports. China is in second place, Japan in third.
Within the EU, it is mainly countries like France, the Netherlands, and Belgium that are the major importers, core countries also in NATO.
The war in Ukraine is now deeply into its fourth year. Russian energy exports provide Moscow with large and important revenues.
And the fact is that during the third year of the war, the EU imported fossil fuels from Russia worth 220 billion kronor.
That amount exceeds what the EU gave in financial aid to Ukraine, 189 billion. So yes, the EU is, in a way, giving with one hand and taking with the other.
When it comes to Russian oil—and it was oil that Trump talked about on Truth Social—China and India are in a class of their own in terms of imports.
But in third place comes—yes, the EU. The Union shares that spot with Turkey, both importing six percent of the total Russian oil exports.
But here it is mainly about two EU countries, Hungary and Slovakia. They import via the Druzhba pipeline.
Hungary's Viktor Orban has long cultivated close ties with Vladimir Putin and is dependent on his cheap oil. He also happens to be one of Trump's closest allies in the EU.
Both Hungary and Slovakia have been granted exemptions (the EU has already imposed an oil import ban), but the idea was that they would transition and find other suppliers. Not much has happened.
Orban—like Slovakia's Robert Fico—will certainly demand compensations and help if they are banned from importing Russian oil in the future.
And that is what the EU plans. By January 1, 2028, all imports of Russian oil and gas to the EU should be stopped.
But that's over two years away. And note that Trump, when he conditioned American sanctions, demanded a total oil import stop for all NATO countries.
This includes, as is well known, Turkey. And Recep Tayyip Erdogan has no plans to reduce his import of Russian energy. On the contrary, he sees the country as an important bridge between Russia and Ukraine.
"Forces Europe to Look in the Mirror"
So yes, Trump has points when he forces Europe to look in the mirror, but he also knows that this is a process that will take time.
And some of what Trump wishes for, such as European tariffs on Chinese imports, is very unlikely to happen.
All this, of course, suits Vladimir Putin. What Trump's threats mean in practice is that Russia does not have any new sanctions to expect from the U.S. for a while.