European Commissioner for Energy Dan Jørgensen has said the European Union was “helping Putin finance his war” by continuing to buy Russian gas, despite years of sanctions.
“We are still in Europe buying Russian gas and thereby indirectly helping Putin finance his war,” Jørgensen said on February 26,
“Since the war began, we have imported fossil fuels from Russia for an amount equal to the cost price of 2,400 F35 fighter jets,” he added.
A report from the Centre of Research on Clean Energy (CREA), based in Helsinki, Finland, published on February 24 confirmed the EU was still dependent on Russian energy supplies.
CREA is an independent research organisation focused on revealing the trends, causes and health impacts, as well as the solutions to air pollution, according to its website.
Its report revealed that imports of Russian fossil fuels exceeded the €18.7 billion in financial aid the EU sent to Ukraine in 2024, the third year of the invasion.
It also found that, despite a range of sanctions, EU member states spent €7 billion on Russian LNG in 2024 with volumes rising by 9 per cent year-on-year.
Last year, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen called for the EU to turn to US LNG gas supply to end dependence on Russia.
Despite von der Leyen’s hopes, EU dependence on Moscow’s energy has remained, while diplomatic tensions with Washington have complicated matters further.
The CREA’s report also revealed Russia’s so-called “shadow fleet” of tankers was still smuggling sanctioned oil across the globe, with hundreds of Kremlin-linked vessels rerouting embargoed crude to non-sanctioning nations.
In 2024, 558 Russian shadow tankers moved 167 million tonnes of oil, worth €83 billion, CREA said.
The fleet was responsible for 78 per cent of crude oil shipments, worth €57 billion and 37 per cent of refined oil exports valued at €26 billion), effectively keeping Putin’s war machine running.
Previously, Dutch-based investigative news outlet Follow the Money (FTM) published a report on February 4 that revealed Western shipowners had made billions selling tankers to the shadow fleet, enabling Moscow to bypass EU sanctions and keep Russia’s wartime economy afloat.
Jørgensen’s admission came as he unveiled the Clean Industrial Deal, introducing a new series of measures designed to curb soaring energy costs across the EU.
‘Western companies make billions selling oil tankers to Russia,’ report claims
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