▲ U.S. President Donald Trump (right) and Russian President Vladimir Putin
As Europe criticized a diesel supply deal between the U.S. and Russia as funding the war, Russia responded by revealing the scale of Europe's purchases of Russian energy.
According to AFP, Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak appeared on a broadcast on the 12th local time and stated that hydrocarbon energy, including oil and natural gas, supplied to European Union (EU) countries has reached approximately $320.7 billion (approx. 430 trillion won) since 2022.
Novak added that European countries have purchased approximately $21.3 billion (approx. 28 trillion won) worth of Russian energy this year alone.
He stated, "Despite restrictive measures related to sanctions, we continue to supply energy resources in certain sectors where exceptions are recognized."
Novak's remarks on this day were aimed at pointing out that although the EU has imposed numerous sanctions on Russia since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, several European countries, including France, have still not stopped importing energy such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia.
A number of landlocked countries, such as Slovakia and Hungary, have also been granted exemptions from anti-Russia sanctions, allowing them to purchase Russian oil via pipelines.
AFP pointed out that the total amount of Russian energy imported by Europe in this manner does not even include the volumes indirectly flowing into Europe after being refined in third countries such as India, Turkey, and China.
Considering that these countries have significantly increased their imports of Russian crude oil since 2022, it can be estimated that the amount of Russian energy entering Europe is much larger than the recorded figures.
When the U.S. announced on the 9th that it would temporarily ease sanctions on Russian diesel, the EU immediately poured criticism upon it.
Kaja Kallas, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, stated on social media on the 10th, "Suspending sanctions on Russian diesel gives Russia more revenue to wage war," emphasizing that "now is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe will not do so."
In addition, meeting with reporters ahead of the EU foreign ministers' meeting held in Luxembourg on the 11th, she argued that the U.S. should not pursue imports of Russian diesel and instead should impose new sanctions on Russia.
Following the EU's backlash, U.S. President Donald Trump criticized the EU by deploying arguments along the same lines as Russia.
Trump posted on Truth Social on that day, saying, "The European Union has paid Russia $250 billion for energy, and the fake news media won't touch this story."
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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