Has Europe spent more on Russian oil and gas than aid to Ukraine, as Trump claims?

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Has Europe spent more on Russian oil and gas than aid to Ukraine, as Trump claims?  The US president says Europe’s energy bill to Russia exceeds its spending on Ukraine. Euroverify investigates.  READ MORE : http://www.euronews.com/2025/03/05/has-europe-spent-more-on-russian-oil-and-gas-than-aid-to-ukraine-as-trump-claims  Subscribe to our channel. Euronews is available on Dailymotion in 12 languages

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00:00Has Europe spent more on Russian oil and gas than on aid to Ukraine, as Trump claims?

00:09Meanwhile, Europe has sadly spent more money buying Russian oil and gas

00:14than they have spent on defending Ukraine, by far. Think of that.

00:18We verified this accusation against the latest available data.

00:23Russian fossil fuels are still entering the European market

00:26despite the European Union sanctioning Russian energy products

00:30in response to the war in Ukraine.

00:32This is the estimated value of Russian oil, coal and gas

00:36imported by the EU's 27 countries since the start of the invasion.

00:40205 billion euros.

00:43We compared this with the financial support the EU has provided Ukraine over the same period.

00:49According to the European Commission, it stands at around 133 billion euros,

00:54spanning financial, military and humanitarian aid.

00:58That's 35% less than the estimated amount spent on Russian fossil fuels.

01:04But other estimates by the Kiel Institute put the financial support

01:08allocated by both the EU institutions and all EU countries at around 203 billion euros.

01:15When we also include all the assistance provided by other European countries

01:19that are not EU members, such as the UK and Norway,

01:23the figure reaches 247 billion euros.

01:26The accuracy of Trump's claims therefore depends on whether we consider the support

01:31provided by the European Union alone or by Europe as a whole.

01:35Regardless, some EU capitals are calling for tighter sanctions on Russian gas,

01:41which still accounted for almost a fifth of EU imports last year

01:45despite efforts to divest from Russian energy products.

01:49Researchers say more decisive sanctions that address the Kremlin's circumvention

01:54could slash Moscow's annual revenues by a further 20%.

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