Russia has put a price on Europe’s withdrawal from trade and energy deals with Moscow in the past three years.
The European Union has lost $1.16 trillion (1 trillion euros) due to the termination of energy and other trade deals with Moscow, Russian media quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko as saying on Monday.
“There are different estimates. If we talk about the majority of experts, the total amounts to as much as more than a trillion euros taking into account losses from termination of energy cooperation with Russia, from the curtailment of trade,” the official was quoted as saying.
Trade in 2013 was worth $482 billion (417 billion euros), last year it had fallen to $69.4 billion (60 billion euros), and “now it is practically approaching zero. This is lost profit,” Grushko said.
The EU may be paying a higher price for energy, including with the 2022-23 energy crisis, but it remains committed to ditching Russian energy and stepping up sanctions against Russia’s oil and gas exports.
On July 18, the EU adopted the 18th sanctions package against Russia, targeting a hundred more ‘shadow fleet’ tankers, energy trade, and traders and banks enabling it, and lowering the price cap on Russian crude oil to $47.60 from $60 per barrel.
Russian gas supply via pipelines to Europe has slumped since 2022, after Russia cut off many EU customers from its gas deliveries, and Nord Stream stopped supplying gas to Germany, after Russia reduced flows and after a sabotage in September 2022.
Russian pipeline gas supply to the EU via Ukraine stopped on January 1, 2025, after Ukraine refused to negotiate an extension to the transit deal.
However, some European Union countries, including Hungary and Slovakia, continue to receive Russian gas through the TurkStream pipeline via Turkey and the Balkans—the only remaining route for Russian gas to Europe.
Earlier this year, the EU unveiled a roadmap to end dependency on Russian energy, which includes a halt to all imports of Russian gas by the end of 2027.
By Charles Kennedy for Oilprice.com
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