President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said on Tuesday that she wants Europe to stop buying oil from Russia by the end of this year, Reuters reported. “Trump is absolutely right. We’re about it,” she said.
The statement of the EU chief comes shortly after US President Donald Trump criticized the European Union at the UN General Assembly to maintain Russian war efforts against Ukraine alive by the purchase of Russian oil and natural gas.
“He must immediately stop all energy purchases from Russia,” Trump said. “Otherwise, we all lose a lot of time,” New York Post informed.
The EU reduces the import of Russian oil
The European Union has already significantly reduced its energy dependence on Russia after a full invasion of Ukraine in Moscow in 2022. However, Bloc continues to rely on certain Russian supplies to meet his needs. New York Post said in the news report that it also seems “unwilling” to completely interrupt the flows.
Russian rivals Katar as one of the largest exporters of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to the EU after the United States. In addition to LNG, Russia also exports a large amount of gas to 27-member trading block, which, according to Eurostat data, represents approximately 8 % of the total import of EU gas in the second quarter of 2025.
Trump’s pressure
Trump has repeatedly targeted Europe’s energy purchases to Europe, although the EU has banned the import of oil products from Russian oil since next year.
Bloomberg said that European nations import diesel from India and Turkey, where Russian oil is improved into fuel.
Data on the European Commission show that Russian oil purchases in European countries are now only 3 %, while before the war with Ukraine, the import of EU oil was about 27 %.
For the EU, reducing the import of Russian oil and its purchase on the sea route would be more expensive because Russian oil is sold with a discount. The most likely import route for the EU that passes through Croatia also lacks sufficient capacity, NY Times said.
(Tagstotranslate) European Commission (T) Ursula von der Leyen
