Russia criticizes Europe for diesel deal: “You guys also bought 430 trillion won worth”

As Russia criticized the diesel supply contract between Europe and the United States as supporting war funds, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak revealed the status of Europe's purchases of Russian energy.

According to AFP, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Aleksandr Novak appeared on a broadcast on the 12th (local time) and announced that hydrocarbon energy such as oil and natural gas supplied to European Union (EU) countries will amount to about $320.7 billion (about 430 trillion won) from 2022 to present.

Deputy Prime Minister Novak added that European countries purchased about $21.3 billion (about 28 trillion won) worth of Russian energy this year as well.

“Despite restrictions related to (anti-Russia) sanctions, we continue to supply energy resources to certain areas for which exceptions have been granted,” he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Novak's remarks today pointed out that although the EU has imposed numerous sanctions on Russia since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, many European countries, including France, have not yet stopped importing energy such as liquefied natural gas (LNG) from Russia.

Many landlocked countries, such as Slovakia and Hungary, are exempt from sanctions against Russia and are purchasing Russian oil through oil pipelines.

AFP pointed out that the total amount of Russian energy that Europe imports in this way does not even include the amount that flows indirectly into Europe after being refined in third countries such as India, Turkmenistan, and China.

Considering that these countries have significantly increased their imports of Russian crude oil after 2022, it can be assumed that the amount of Russian energy entering Europe will be much higher than the calculated amount.

The EU immediately criticized the United States when it announced on the 9th that it would temporarily ease sanctions on Russian diesel.

Kaya Callas, the EU's High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security, said on social media on the 10th, "Suspending sanctions on Russian diesel gives Russia more revenue to wage war," and emphasized, "Now is not the time to ease pressure on Russia, and Europe will not do that."

In addition, in a meeting with reporters ahead of the EU foreign ministers' meeting held in Luxembourg on the 11th, he argued that the United States should impose new sanctions against Russia rather than pursue imports of Russian diesel.

After the EU's backlash, US President Donald Trump criticized the EU, making the same argument as Russia.

President Trump told TruthSocial on this day, “The European Union (EU) paid $250 billion to Russia in energy costs, and the fake news media does not want to get close to this story.”