Europe has actually bought more fuel from Russia since Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine back in February, despite pledging to punish the Kremlin’s aggression.
On Tuesday, the amount of gas mainland Europe bought from Russia (in shipments going via Ukraine) hit a four-month high – the EU currently to import 41% of its gas from the country and 27% of its oil.
While prime minister Boris Johnson did previously warn there would be a transition period before Europe is able to wean itself off Russian supplies, the trade leaves the West open to accusations it is undermining its own attempts to punish Moscow through sanctions.
As Bloomberg’s energy columnist Javier Blas said: “Europe’s current energy policy isn’t sustainable. It’s hypocritical, and leaves the region at the mercy of Moscow. The alternative isn’t pretty, but Europe needs to prepare for it.”
Will it change any time soon?
Josep Borrell, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, did openly admit that Europe’s approach was probably helping Putin’s war effort on Tuesday, and called for immediate change.
He told the European Parliament: “We have given Ukraine €1 billion [£0.83 billion]. It might seem a lot, but €1 billion is what we pay Putin every day for the energy he provides us.
“Since the beginning of the war, we have given him €35 billion [£29 billion], compared to the €1 billion we have given Ukraine in arms and weapons.”
He added: “Each day, roughly, we are paying €1 billion to import Russian energy, and that’s, obviously, a source of income that’s used to finance the war.”
Borrell called for the EU to “cut the umbilical cord”, and wanted more money handed to Ukraine through weapons.
He said: “When it comes to oil and gas, we are paying the equivalent of the amount of assets that have been frozen owned by the Russian central bank. So, the first thing that we need to do is to cut the umbilical cord. We need to stop these flows that allow them to gain assets to finance this war.”
The EU chief claimed the bloc will “have cut our dependence on Russian energy by two-thirds” by the end of the year, adding: “Everybody needs to make an individual effort when it comes to cutting use.”
The EU is actually expected to announce an embargo on Russian coal soon – worth an estimated £3.3 billion) although it remains to be seen if the bloc will follow this up with a ban on oil and gas.
The UK and the US have already announced a ban on Russian oil imports.
“Each day, roughly, we are paying €1 billion to import Russian energy, and that’s, obviously, a source of income that’s used to finance the war.”
- Josep Borrell, EU foreign affairs chief
What’s the hold-up?
Germany, Austria and Hungary have all resisted any changes to Europe’s energy strategy.
Last month, Germany’s chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a statement: “Europe has deliberately exempted energy supplies from Russia from sanctions.
“At the moment, Europe’s supply of energy for heat generation, mobility, power supply and industry cannot be secured in any other way. It is therefore of essential importance for the provision of public services and the daily lives of our citizens.”
Europe also puts gas into storage in April in preparation for the following winter, but to do so efficiently for this year, it would need to keep buying from Russia.
Russian gas only makes up a small portion of the UK’s total supplies, but the UK market is closely aligned with Europe, meaning if gas prices climb once again there, they’ll do the same here.
In March, the prime minister said: “There are different dependencies in different countries, we have to be mindful of that.
“You can’t simply close down use of oil and gas overnight, even from Russia. That’s obviously not something every country around the world can do.”
He added: “We need to do is make sure we’re all moving in the same direction, all share the same assumptions, that we accelerate that movement.”
Russian gas only makes up a small portion of the UK’s total supplies, but the UK market is closely aligned with Europe, meaning if gas prices climb once again there, they’ll do the same here.