Despite sanctions: Russia sold 286 billion euros worth of oil and gas to the EU
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak reported that since 2022, the country has sold $320.7 billion — nearly 286 billion euros — worth of oil and gas to the European Union. This occurred under conditions of sanctions imposed due to the full-scale war against Ukraine.
Despite sanctions, Russia has sold 286 billion euros worth of oil and gas to the EU.
According to DW, Novak cited these figures on October 12 during the "Vesti" television program.
According to the Ministry of Energy of Russia, in the first nine months of 2026, energy resources worth $21.3 billion, or 19.1 billion euros, were delivered to Europe.
At the same time, Novak stated that the main part of Russia's energy exports is now directed to the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. According to him, Russia has the capacity to increase diesel fuel exports up to 3.5 million tons per month.
After Russia launched a full-scale attack on Ukraine, the EU introduced a series of sanctions against the Russian energy sector and chose a path to completely abandon its energy resources.
However, as the AFP agency notes, some EU countries, including France, continue to purchase energy resources from Russia, in particular, liquefied natural gas. Slovakia and Hungary, meanwhile, are purchasing Russian pipeline oil based on exceptions in the sanctions.
The report states that the calculations do not include the portion of Russian oil and gas processed in third countries such as India or Turkey and then delivered to Europe. These countries, as well as China, have significantly increased their purchases of crude oil from Russia.
On October 11, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent accused Europeans of "hypocrisy." He claimed that Europe continues to fund Vladimir Putin by purchasing energy resources from Russia.
These statements came against the backdrop of an announced agreement between the US and Russia on the supply of diesel fuel.
On October 9, following a telephone conversation with Vladimir Putin, Donald Trump stated that an agreement had been reached to supply Russian diesel to the "American and world market."
According to Trump's statement, Russian companies are initially to ship over 300 thousand tons, another 500 thousand tons in November, followed by 1 million tons of diesel. Later, depending on the condition of the oil refineries, the delivery of another 3 million tons was mentioned, though no specific deadline was indicated for this volume.