The EU sought Tuesday to downplay its reliance on Russian fossil fuel imports after Moscow boasted of its sales, seizing upon the controversy sparked by a U.S. decision to buy Russian diesel.
Russia said on Monday it had sold European countries more than $320 billion worth of hydrocarbons since 2022, despite sanctions imposed over the war in Ukraine.
European countries purchased $21.3 billion worth of Russian hydrocarbons in the first nine months of 2026 alone, Russian Deputy Prime Minister in charge of energy Alexander Novak said on television.
"In other words, despite sanctions-related restrictions, we continue to supply energy resources in certain areas for which exemptions have been granted," Novak added.
He said Russian oil exports may reach their pre-war levels by the end of the year.
The European Commission responded by providing a lower figure – $209 billion since the invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 – and stressing that the 27-nation bloc was working toward ending all Russian gas imports by the end of 2027.
"We are in this for the long term and that trend is very clear," commission spokesperson Anna-Kaisa Itkonen told a press conference in Brussels.
Moscow pointed to its European sales after some European countries criticized a deal allowing the United States to import Russian diesel.
The rebuke did not go down well in Washington, where the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump is seeking to bring down soaring fuel prices ahead of key midterm elections in November.
"The European Union paid Russia 250 Billion Dollars for Energy, and the Fake News Media doesn't want to get near that story. I made the right choice for the American People – ALWAYS, AMERICA FIRST!," Trump posted on Truth Social on Monday.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on Sunday accused European nations of "hypocrisy," as they "continue to finance Vladimir Putin" while criticizing the diesel agreement.
The European Union has taken significant steps to reduce its longstanding dependence on Russian pipeline gas and sap Moscow's war chest since 2022.
Overall Russian gas imports, which represented 45% of the total in 2021, are down to 12%, Itkonen noted.
However, the bloc has increasingly turned to LNG shipped by sea, unloaded at ports, regasified and fed into the European network.
After the United States, which supplies about 60% of the EU's LNG imports, Russia remains the bloc's second-largest LNG supplier, accounting for around 17% of imports in 2026.
Several landlocked EU countries, including Slovakia and Hungary, also benefit from exemptions allowing them to purchase Russian oil transported via pipeline.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard pointed to the figure cited by Russia on Monday, lamenting it was higher than the 218.7 billion euros ($244 billion) the bloc has sent in support to Ukraine since the beginning of the war.
"We have imported a higher amount to the EU countries than we have given support to Ukraine," Malmer Stenergard said. "If we would use the frozen assets, we would almost double the total support that we have given to Ukraine," she added, referring to Russian sovereign funds held by the bloc.
"That would be a game-changer, and a game-changer is exactly what Ukraine needs."
