Moscow has pulled in more than $320 billion from European energy buyers since launching its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, despite waves of Western sanctions meant to choke off that revenue.
The figure, roughly 286 billion euros, came from Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak during a Monday television appearance. Novak oversees Russia’s fuel and energy sector. He said European Union countries paid that amount for Russian oil and gas between 2022 and the present.
For the first nine months of 2026 alone, energy shipments to Europe totaled $21.3 billion, according to the Energy Ministry.
Meanwhile, Russia has redirected much of its export engine toward Asia-Pacific markets. Novak also claimed Moscow could boost monthly diesel exports to 3.5 million tons.
The EU pledged to eliminate Russian energy imports after the invasion began. Yet several member states still depend on those supplies. France continues receiving Russian liquefied natural gas. Slovakia and Hungary operate under sanctions exemptions that permit pipeline crude purchases.
The picture gets murkier with indirect shipments. Russian crude processed in India or Turkey and then sold onward to Europe never appears in official tallies. Those intermediary nations, along with China, have dramatically scaled up purchases of Russian barrels.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent took aim at European allies on October 11, calling their stance “hypocrisy.” He accused them of continuing to fund Vladimir Putin while complaining about diesel prices.
Two days earlier, President Donald Trump announced a “highly successful” call with Putin on Truth Social. The deal: Russian diesel flowing to American and global markets. Trump said Russian firms would ship more than 300,000 tons “immediately,” another 500,000 tons in November, and 1 million tons shortly after. Additional volumes, perhaps 3 million more tons, hinge on refinery conditions.
The Treasury has already issued a license suspending sanctions on Russian diesel through April 2027. The first tanker left St. Petersburg bound for the U.S. East Coast, with arrival expected within 48 to 72 hours.
