Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, who oversees the energy sector, said in a televised interview that Russia’s energy exports to European Union member states had generated $320.7 billion since 2022.
“From 2022 to the present, the figure has reached $320.7 billion. This is the value of energy products we have supplied to European Union member states,” Novak said.
He added that in the first nine months of 2026 alone, European countries purchased Russian oil and gas products worth $21.3 billion.
“In other words, despite the restrictions imposed by sanctions, we continue to supply energy products to certain sectors that are exempt from those sanctions,” he said.
Novak also said Russia’s oil exports could return to pre-war levels before the end of this year.
Swedish Foreign Minister Maria Malmer Stenergard referred to the figures announced by Russia when she arrived in Luxembourg on Monday for a meeting with her counterparts from European Union member states.
She compared Russia’s energy revenue with the €218.7 billion, equivalent to approximately $244 billion, that the European Union has provided to Ukraine in assistance since the war began.
“The value of what we have imported from Russia exceeds the assistance we have provided to Ukraine,” Malmer Stenergard said.
She added that using frozen Russian assets held in the European Union could nearly double the total assistance already provided to Ukraine.
“That would significantly change the situation, and changing the situation is what Ukraine needs,” she said.
The European Union has imposed numerous sanctions on Russia since the war in Ukraine began in 2022. However, several European countries, including France, have continued to purchase Russian oil and gas.
Several landlocked countries, including Slovakia and Hungary, have also received exemptions allowing them to import Russian oil transported through pipelines.
The figures do not include Russian oil products that reach European markets through third countries such as India and Türkiye after being refined there. These countries, along with China, have significantly increased their purchases of Russian crude oil since 2022.
European countries have also criticised a deal announced on Friday that allows the United States to import Russian diesel.
US President Donald Trump responded forcefully to the criticism in a post on Truth Social, saying: “The European Union has paid Russia $250 billion to buy energy, and the fake news media does not even want to touch that story. I made the right decision for the American people. America must always come first.”
On Sunday, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent also criticised what he described as European hypocrisy, saying European countries were “continuing to fund Vladimir Putin” while condemning the US deal to purchase Russian diesel.
