Since February 2022, the Russian Federation has sold fuel for almost € 1 trillion: the event is funding a war in Ukraine - Air Force - Air Force

The EU has prohibited the supply of crude Russian oil by the sea, but continued to buy gas. The Center for Research in Energy and Pure Air (CREA) estimated that by May 29, 2025, Russia has earned more than 883 billion euros from fuel exports. Of this figure, 228 billion euros were from the countries that were imposed on the Russian Federation, and the main share of the amount of 209 billion euros came to European countries.

The EU continued to buy pipeline gas in Russia until Ukraine stopped its transit in January 2025. However, raw oil enters pipelines in Hungary and Slovakia. Russian gas is also supplied to Europe through Turkey: deliveries in January and February 2025 increased by 26. 77% compared to the same period of 2024. In Moscow, it was estimated that gas exports to Europe in 2024 increased by 20%, and the liquefied natural gas reached record performance.

The Global Witness Human Rights Group activist Main Rossner believes that many Western politicians fear that reducing imports of Russian fuel will lead to an increase in energy prices. "Many governments do not have a real desire to limit Russia's capacity to produce and sell oil. There will be too much fear, as it will affect the energy markets in the world. There is a boundary at which energy markets can be severely affected, they will be taken out of balance," she said.

Russian oil enters the countries of the West not only directly, but also after processing in third countries. Sometimes it is diluted with raw oil. CREA found three refineries in Turkey and three in India, which process oil from the Russian Federation and then resist it to the west. These plants processed Russian oil by 6. 1 billion euros. The Ministry of Oil and Natural Gas of India stated that the CREA report is "a dishonest attempt to blacken the image of" the country.

"The countries that have imposed sanctions against Russia are ready to put up with such a state of affairs. It's a loophole and everything is absolutely legal. Everyone knows about it, but no one does anything to deal with it seriously," Crea Vaibkha Raghunandan explained. The cost of oil production in Russia is lower than in OPEC countries, so they will first and foremost suffer from a decrease in prices, not Russia. "Saudi Arabia will not agree to do so. This has already been tried.

This has led to a conflict between Saudi Arabia and the US," says Raghhounandan. The Russian budget is highly dependent on the revenues on the sale of oil and gas. Since the beginning of 2025, the budget of the Russian Federation received 3. 7 trillion rubles of income from the sale of oil and gas, as well as more than 8. 5 trillion from other sectors of the economy. Focus wrote about the reduction of global oil prices: the cost of the Russian Urals website dropped up to $ 50 per barrel.