European leaders descended on Washington, DC, on Monday in an expression of solidarity with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky ahead of peace talks with U.S. President Trump. However, critics noted that despite the bluster from Brussels, Europe sent more money to Russia for energy than it did to Kyiv in aid last year.
Following President Trump’s bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday, President Zelensky was quick to announce that he would also travel to the United States for the first time since he was ejected from the White House in February over his “disrespectful” conduct during an Oval Office meeting.
In an apparent bid to maintain influence over proceedings and perhaps to prevent another disastrous breakdown, multiple European leaders hastily organised trips of their own, with UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, Finnish President Alexander Stubb, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen all landing in Washington on Monday.
While European leaders have so far maintained their maximalist position, vowing to continue to provide aid “for as long as it takes” and making preparations for their 19th round of sanctions on Russia, critics have noted that European powers continue to prop up Moscow with vast amounts of spending on Russian energy.
Indeed, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA) estimated that last year, European nations collectively spent $23 billion on Russian energy in 2024. In comparison, powers in Europe only provided $19.6 billion in foreign aid to Ukraine.
The CREA report estimated that a quarter of Russia’s fossil fuel export revenues still come from Europe, meaning that Europe has been effectively financing both sides of the war.
White House reporter for Real Clear Politics, Philip Melanchthon Wegmann, noted on Monday that the leaders of three top European purchasers of Russian energy, France, Germany, and Italy, were all in attendance in Washington for the talks with Trump and Zelensky.
President Trump has long been a leading critic of European reliance on Russian energy, warning back in 2018 that Germany risked becoming “captive” to Moscow with its Nord Stream pipelines.
He repeated such warnings at the United Nations meeting in New York, saying that Germany faced becoming “totally dependent on Russian energy if it does not immediately change course.” Yet, his predictions were met with open laughter from the German delegation at the time.
A declassified document produced just four months before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine later revealed that the government in Berlin of then-Chancellor Angela Merkel believed that doubling down on its reliance on Russian energy through the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline would “not jeopardise” Germany’s energy security.
This turned out to be a significant strategic error, with Moscow cutting off the taps later that summer amid initial European sanctions over the Ukraine war. The eventual sabotage of the two pipelines has left the German economy reeling to this day.
However, although Europe continues to be reliant on Russian energy, including crude oil refined and shipped in from India and Turkey, there has been movement within the EU to move towards other sources, namely American liquid natural gas, with Brussels agreeing in July to purchase $750 billion in U.S. energy as a part of the trade deal negotiated by President Trump.
Speaking to Breitbart London, the Director General for International Affairs, Ludovika University of Public Service, Liliana Śmiech, noted that while it is true that Europe spent more on Russian energy than Ukrainian aid last year, there have been “significant efforts to cut its dependence on Russian hydrocarbons”.
“Since 2021, the EU has reduced Russian gas imports from around 45 per cent to below 20 per cent, which means Russia’s energy revenues are under real pressure and its economic position is far weaker than before the war,” Śmiech said.
“Energy, however, is never only about economics — it is also about politics, societies, and ultimately elections. Leaders have to balance international commitments with the responsibility to secure affordable energy for their citizens. Supporting Ukraine remains important, but governments cannot ignore the domestic realities that shape political choices.”
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