Claim: President Donald Trump on Tuesday claimed that European countries spent more money on buying Russian oil and natural gas than Ukraine's support.
Fact check: Probably true.
In his first joint speech to Parliament since taking office in January, President Trump emphasized that Russia would end the invasion of Ukraine three years ago, and his efforts to promote negotiations. Commenting on the situation in Ukraine, he denounced the European Union countries defending Ukraine verbally but financially support Russia.
“Europe spent more money than they spent on the defense of Ukraine to buy Russian oil and gas,” Trump insisted. “Think about it, they spent more money on the purchase of Russian oil and gas than they spent on the defense.”
The terms of many European agreements for purchasing Russian oil, coal and natural gas are not publicly disclosed, so information on how much money the European Union is spending on the Russian economy is at best an estimate. However, the most sophisticated estimates suggest that EU countries spend far more on Russian fuel than aid to Ukraine.
Advocacy groups seeking more renewable energy beyond fossil fuels; estimate The European Union collectively spent $26 billion on Russian oil, natural gas and coal in February 2022 when Russian robber Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of his neighbors with the intention of overthrowing democratically elected President Volodimia Zelensky. Excluding coal, the estimate remains roughly the same as $22 billion. Beyond Fossil Fuels explains that the Russian fuel purchase monitor “uses pricing models to predict what will be paid under unpublished contracts.” This indicates that the model “is more likely to result in a lower cost estimate than one that uses simpler calculations to assess imports at spot prices.”
In contrast, news organization Reuters totalling Europe has spent $138.755 billion in aid to Ukraine, including both military and humanitarian aid since January 2022.
A study published in German newspapers at the end of 2022 Handelsblatt The European Union of Russia's liquefied natural gas (LNG) reached record levels that year, showing that a 21% increase was recorded after the start of a full-scale invasion.
The trends suggested by these statistics do not appear to be the product of the delay between invasion that began in 2022 and Europe, which corresponds to reducing Russia's fossil fuel consumption. Another study published in March by another anti-Fisil fuel advocacy group, Research Center on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) discovered that Europe spent similarly on Russian fuel in 2024 than Ukrainian aid. According to the CREA, Europe spent $23 billion on various forms of Russian fossil fuels, but in that year foreign aid to Ukraine was only $19.6 billion.
“Despite many sanctions, Russia's revenue in the third year fell by just 8% compared to the year before the Ukrainian invasion,” observed Kree.
