Three and 1/2 years into Russia‘s full-scale war against Ukraine, Europe is still helping pay for it. Since the invasion, the European Union has imported more than €213 billion ($247 billion USD) worth of Russian energy supplies, according to data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air. That is more than the total aid the political bloc has given to Ukraine, €167 billion ($194 billion USD), in military, financial, and humanitarian assistance.

Cargo shipments of Russian liquefied natural gas to the EU hit record levels in 2024. The bloc has continued purchasing this gas at an unprecedented pace throughout 2025. The EU has banned Russian oil and refined fuels, but not natural gas, allowing imports to continue largely untouched. Despite sanctions, Russian gas imports into the EU rose 30% in the first half of 2025 compared to last year.

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It is not only the usual suspects who have increased Russian energy imports. Last year, five of those countries that publicly championed Ukraine’s cause did so. France’s imports surged 40%. The Netherlands jumped 72%. The gas often enters through French or Spanish LNG ports and is shipped onward across the continent.

The EU said it has cut dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 90%. Yet the largest importers of Russian energy remain Slovakia and Hungary — countries that have tilted toward Moscow’s embrace — but other countries have also increased their consumption. They have repeatedly resisted tougher energy sanctions, using their EU veto power to delay collective action.

American LNG could replace the Russian supply, and the United States remains the world’s largest LNG exporter. But European hesitation, domestic green politics, and price concerns have stalled a full switch. American LNG has risen to become the EU’s largest LNG supplier, shipping roughly 45% of the bloc’s LNG imports last year. The U.S. is ready and able to scale exports further. Analysis suggests that, down the road, American LNG could reduce the cost of gas for European consumers by 9%. Yet, Europe is hesitating, and American imports have slowed while Russia’s have grown significantly.  

Over the years, Russia has made an art form of using energy supply to further geopolitical aims. The continent lived through several gas crises caused by the weaponization of energy politics by the Kremlin. Despite this, it took bombing Ukrainian towns for Brussels to consider dependence on Russian energy imports as a national security threat. Before then, Germany ignored such facts while building the Nord Stream II pipeline, a gas transit project, despite vehement protests from Ukraine and the U.S.

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Last month, President Donald Trump accused European countries of hypocrisy for buying oil and gas from Moscow “when they are fighting Russia.” Trump was right.

For Europe not to have prioritized cutting off the main revenue for the Kremlin is not only disingenuous but strategically unsound. The same might, of course, be said of Trump, who, instead of using leverage against the worst sinners on the continent, has resorted to criticism of the bloc for the sake of it. If he wanted, he could fill the vacuum that Europe has created.

, 2025-10-12 10:00:00, , Washington Examiner, %%https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/cropped-favicon.png?w=32, https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/feed/, Ani Chkhikvadze