€1.7bn
Fertiliser
EU imports from Russia in 2025, up 14% on pre-invasion levels. Higher tariffs only fully apply from 2028.
Eurostat, via Ekonomichna Pravda
Home / Ukraine
Ukraine and Russia
The EU's double standard on Russia
The EU promises to back Ukraine for as long as it takes, while its members keep paying Russia for fuel, fertiliser and metals.
EU & Russia
The EU's double standard
The EU says it stands with Ukraine. It has paid Russia more.
EU leaders have promised to support Ukraine "for as long as it takes". Yet since the full-scale invasion in February 2022, EU countries have paid Russia more for its oil, gas, fertiliser, metals and chemicals than the EU and its member states together have given to Ukraine. Oil and gas sales are one of the Kremlin's biggest sources of income, so this money has helped keep Putin's war machine running. This is not a Brexit benefit. It is a measure of the union Britain is being asked to rejoin.
What the EU says
"The European Union will continue to provide strong financial, economic, humanitarian, military and diplomatic support to Ukraine and its people for as long as it takes."
European Council conclusions
What the EU does
It bought a record amount of Russian liquefied gas in 2024, imports more Russian fertiliser than before the war, and will not ban Russian gas fully until the end of 2027.
Kpler; Eurostat; Council of the EU
Paid by the EU to Russia for fuel, fertiliser, metals, chemicals and other goods since 24 February 2022
€247,000,000,000
Estimate, and a minimum. Oil, gas and coal since February 2022 (CREA), plus non-energy goods since January 2025 at €11bn a year (Eurostat). Non-energy imports in 2022–24 are not included.
Given to Ukraine by the EU and its 27 member states since 24 February 2022
€200bn
Military, financial and humanitarian support, grants and loans (European Parliament Research Service).
£85m
Does the UK still buy from Russia?
Very little. UK goods imports from Russia were £85m in the year to March 2026, mainly aircraft parts and metal goods, with small amounts of chemicals (£6.7m) and fish (£6.4m). The EU imported €28bn in 2025.
Department for Business and Trade, 2026
Dec 2022
When the UK stopped
The UK banned Russian oil imports from December 2022 and LNG from January 2023. The EU's ban on Russian LNG takes effect in January 2027, and pipeline gas by the end of 2027.
UK Government; European Council
Payments for Russian fuel have fallen each year, down 36% in the year to February 2026, while aid to Ukraine has risen. The totals compare different things: trade payments to Russian sellers, and support that includes loans. Including European countries outside the EU, such as the UK and Norway, European aid is larger than EU fuel payments. Sources and method
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