US imported more Russian fossil fuels than India since Ukraine war broke out: Report

As talks over sanctions continue amid escalations in the Russia Ukraine war, a report has claimed that the United States imported more Russian fossil fuels than India during the first two months of the war. An independent research group on Thursday revealed the information and also noted that Germany was the biggest buyer of Russian energy in the last two months. This comes amid countries continually speaking about isolating Russia financially by placing economic sanctions.

A study published by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air calculates that Russia has earned 63 billion euros (USD 66.5 billion) from fossil fuel exports since the start of the Russia Ukraine war, which began on February 24. The report made using data on ship movements, real-time tracking of gas flows through pipelines and estimates based on historical monthly trade reported that the US imported more crude oil from Russia than India.

^{Credit: Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air}

The United States government, which has been continually placing ‘crippling’ sanctions on Russia, has bought a large sum of crude oil from Russia during the first two months of the Ukraine war. It is pertinent to note that the West has often mentioned India’s high dependency on Russian fuel.

US had asked India not to increase the imports of Russian energy

Earlier, the US had noted that it does not believe “it is in India’s interest to accelerate or even increase the imports of Russian energy and other commodities”. White House press secretary Jen Psaki had, earlier this month, talked about India’s Russian oil imports and said that India’s imports of Russian energy are only 1-2 per cent of New Delhi’s total energy imports. Psaki's remarks pertaining to India's Russian energy imports came in the backdrop of Moscow saying that Washington itself has increased the imports of Russia's oil and gas.

Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Mikhail Popov had revealed that the US has increased imports of Russian oil by 43 per cent, reaching 100,000 barrels per day as the war had entered its second month. The US had earlier said that the country expects every country around the world to abide by the sanctions that Washington announced against Russia. However, several reports have revealed Washington’s increased oil purchase from Russia.  

Germany the top buyer of Russian gas

Meanwhile, the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, which is based in Finland and funded through grants and research contracts also reported that Germany alone paid Russia about 9.1 billion euros for fossil fuel deliveries in the first two months of the war. Earlier, Germany had faced strong criticism for its reliance on Russian fossil fuels despite warnings from allies. According to the report, Italy (6.9 billion euros) and China (6.7 billion euros) followed Germany on the list. Meanwhile, as per the report, the European Union accounted for 71 per cent of Russia's total income from oil, gas and coal. EU’s payment to Russia for oil and gas accounted for approximately 44 billion euros, the report noted.

(With PTI inputs)

Image: AP