Would you buy £230bn worth of goods from a country that continues to bomb children?

This is how much the EU27 have spent, funding Putin’s killing machine since 2022

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025

A feeling of being hypocritical is not something that ever troubles the EU Commission

This week we have seen Ursula von der Leyen and her comrades, along with British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, posing for the cameras in the White House for meetings which have produced very little. As everyone knows, the subject was Russia, and specifically its war of aggression on Ukraine, which next week will have lasted for three-and-a-half years.

[Source(s) : EU Commission / X.com ]

In the 'family photo' above it is interesting that Sir Keir is placed next to Ursula von der Leyen, whereas President Macron has placed himself next to President Trump.

Russia's reliance on exports

The Russian economy is built on exports. Without them it would collapse almost overnight. Russia’s reliance on selling its products – a large proportion of which are its raw materials such as oil and coal – goes far beyond that of most countries. A critically-important customer for President Putin is the EU. If the EU27 countries were to change supplier and source what they buy from Russia from elsewhere instead, the war would have been over long ago.

Funding the missiles Putin continues to rain down on innocent children

Wars are expensive. It was only very recently that the United Kingdom finished paying off its debt from WWII, which ended in 1946. To fund his war of aggression against Ukraine, President Putin has relied on the EU’s hypocrisy in condemning it whilst at the same time contnuing to buy vast quantities of products and material from his country.

Putin’s assessment of the EU was accurate. In June this year, merely weeks before EU Commission President was back in Washington discussing how to end the war, the EU purchased goods to the value of €2.2bn (approx £1.9bn GBP). This was in just one month.

Propping up Putin to the tune of €263.9bn (£229.5bn GBP) in 3½ years

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

The EU27’s total purchases of Russian goods
since Putin’s invasion on 24 February 2022

In total the EU has paid Putin’s Russia over € 1/4 TRILLION (approx £230bn GBP) for goods in the 3½ years since he invaded

In the last two years this has averaged over €3bn per month

What has the EU Commission done about this?

In March 2022 the EU Commission started talking about what to do regarding its policy towards Russia, including the possibility of sanctions. Since then there have been so many new ‘roadmaps’, ‘power plans’, etc, that we have lost count, but it is now in double figures.

The most recent was on 17 June 2025, when the Commission adopted a legislative proposal to gradually phase out the import of Russian gas and oil by the end of 2027. That will be nearly five years since the start of Putin’s aggressive act.

Observations

As President Trump never tires of pointing out, people are dying daily in Ukraine. No-one truly knows the death toll on either side but the figures that have been suggested are horrendous. We do know that Putin continues to bomb Ukraine completely indiscriminately.

Despite this, and with no apparent feelings of shame or embarrassment, the Commission continues to trot out its lame proposals and to propagandise its moves, regardless of how ineffective these have proved to be, as our chart above shows.

The reality is even worse than we have shown, as Putin’s Russia has found other routes to get its goods to the EU, via third countries. None of these appear in the official figures as imports from Russia, naturally, but they are generally held to be highly significant amounts. In this report we have not even commented on the EU27's sales to Russia, which in some cases are significant in relation to Putin's war effort.

It’s no wonder Putin was to be seen in such a good mood in recent days and weeks.

Please, please help us to carry on our vital work in defence of independence, sovereignty, democracy and freedom by donating today. Thank you.

[ Sources: EU Commission | Eurostat (official statistics agency of the EU) ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, 21 Aug 2025

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Reader Comments 9

1. KB , Thursday, August 21, 2025, 07:17:

Zelensky has been bombing his own citizens in Donbas since 2014 including children. Russia didn’t instigate this war but the media would have us believe otherwise, I wonder why ?
You seem to be missing the point that the EU & the UK were hoping for a 20/30 year war in Ukraine in spite of what they say in front of the cameras.
In the present world morals tend to go out of the window when your country is skint & hoping to make lots of money out of weapons & laundering & yes the cheapest source of oil.

2. Have You Wondered , Thursday, August 21, 2025, 07:55:

.
1. KB - "You seem to be missing the point that the EU & the UK were hoping for a 20/30 year war in Ukraine in spite of what they say in front of the cameras."
.
It would be interesting if would please evidence that.
.
"Zelensky has been bombing his own citizens in Donbas since 2014 including children."
.
Here's what ChatGPT comes back with:
.
That statement is **misleading/false as phrased**. Here’s why:
.
* The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine (Donbas) began in **spring 2014**, after Russia’s annexation of Crimea and the emergence of **Russian-backed separatist groups** in Donetsk and Luhansk.
* At that time, **Volodymyr Zelensky was not president** — he was elected only in **May 2019**. The Ukrainian government’s military operations in Donbas started under then-President **Petro Poroshenko**.
* Ukraine has indeed conducted **military operations in Donbas** since 2014, but these were directed at **armed separatist groups**, not “bombing its own citizens” indiscriminately. The separatist forces were supported by Russia with fighters, weapons, and logistics.
* Civilians have tragically been killed and displaced during the conflict — on both sides — but the framing “Zelensky has been bombing his own citizens since 2014” is inaccurate both in terms of timeline (Zelensky wasn’t in power then) and in attributing intent (Ukraine was fighting separatist forces, not deliberately targeting civilians).
👉 So, strictly speaking: **False**.
.

3. AlwaysBlameSomeoneElse , Thursday, August 21, 2025, 08:37:

Not Ukraine or the EU, but Trump capitulates.

4. Sparky , Thursday, August 21, 2025, 10:46:

Russia oil exports to India increased significantly following the sanctions put in place. In 2024 the India oil exports to UK were $13.9 billion.

5. Mr Sceptic , Thursday, August 21, 2025, 12:05:

4 Sparky … valid point.

6. The Brexit Facts4EU.Org Team , Thursday, August 21, 2025, 12:14:

From the Facts4EU team
Please note that in response to emails, we will be producing a report tomorrow on the UK's imports from Russia, as a comparison, so please comment on the EU rather than the UK, which isn't mentioned in this report.

7. NH , Thursday, August 21, 2025, 13:14:

It's not just the imports from Russia, EU products are still being exported to Russia. After the sanctions were announced a whole new industry grew up to manage parallel imports into Russia. The EU is obviously aware of this but it has taken little action to stop it. This includes critical components and equipment used to manufacture armaments. The truth is sanctions have had almost no effect on the Russian economy.
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Unfortunately for the EU this has backfired. They are now expected to contribute to their own defence and, as their actions have helped create a very confident aggressor on their doorstep, this will be very expensive.
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4. Sp, 5. Sceptic.
This is not a valid point at all it's just ignorance !
I will respect Facts4EU's comments and make no further comments on this today. EU countries have clearly broken sanctions by importing large amounts of LNG and other products from Russia. After the Russian invasion the UK's BP, which had very large investments in Russia, withdrew from Russia. France's Total Energy is still operating in Russia today and producing income for the Russian Government.

8. Sparky , Thursday, August 21, 2025, 15:26:

7 NH. It’s not ignorance, it’s facts. Sorry they don’t agree with your thinking. And it is a valid point, but why is Facts4EU still campaigning to leave.
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In 2024 alone, Russian exports to the United States were valued at approximately $3.3 billion, with significant contributions from energy products, fertilizers, and precious metals.

9. NH , Thursday, August 21, 2025, 17:45:

8.Sp.
If you are claiming that the UK is breaking sanctions by buying oil from India that is not true. This is in compliance with international agreements. As I have said I will not comment further today.

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