“Macron should sort out his own house before claiming he supports Ukraine,” says ex-Cabinet Minister

EU27 firms have continued supplying Putin’s killing regime while UK’s firms supply almost nothing

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025, Photos attribution: The White House

PLUS, UK’s spend on Russian goods barely registers, while EU27 spend €bns/mth with Putin’s killing machine

In yesterday’s report Facts4EU revealed the EU’s continued propping up of President Putin’s regime, publishing the official figures for the value of Russian goods the EU27 have continued to buy on a monthly basis since his second invasion of Ukrainian territory. This second act of aggression started in February 2022, following his annexation of the Crimean Peninsula in 2014.

“Macron should be told to sort out his own house before claiming he supports Ukraine,” former Secretary of State tells Facts4EU

The Rt Hon Sir John Redwood, former Secretary of State, commented on our report

“President Trump has made it clear the EU needs to take the lead in helping Ukraine and in ending the European war. President Macron has talked about standing up to Russia whilst continuing to import large amounts of Russian energy, helping finance the war against Ukraine. He has given only one third of the money and weapons the UK has given. Time for France to do better.
“The EU has a border with Ukraine and has made Ukraine a candidate member. The EU has intervened against Russian influence there. It should now put full sanctions on Russia and greatly increase its own financial and military support if it is serious about helping an ally.”

-- The Rt Hon Sir John Redwood, speaking exclusively to Facts4EU, 21 Aug 2025

Having shown the figures for how much the EU27 have continued to buy from Putin’s Russia, perhaps unsurprisingly we have been asked by readers for the comparable figures for the United Kingdom. Thanks to Brexit, in 2022 when Putin invaded Ukraine the UK was free to go its own way with sanctions against Russia after leaving the EU. Accordingly Facts4EU has researched the official data from the Office for National Statistics.

In addition we show just how much the EU27 countries have been selling to Putin’s war machine and compare this to the UK’s own exports to Russia in the same period.

It will not surprise readers to learn that the EU does not come out of either comparison at all well.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

1. Reminder of how much the EU27 have been buying from Putin’s Russia
Mar 2022 – Jun 2025

2. Comparison: UK’s purchases of goods from Putin’s Russia
Mar 2022 – Jun 2025

In total the UK has paid Putin’s Russia only £1.63 bn (approx €1.87 bn euros) for goods in the 3½ years since he invaded
This compares with the EU27’s more than €263.9bn (approx £240 bn GBP) for goods in the same period
In yesterday’s report we showed that in the last two years the EU27 have continued to spend an average of €3,051m per month with Putin’s Russia
In that same period the UK’s average spend has been only £6m (approx €7m euros) per month
This is more than 430 times less than the EU27 are spending.

What about making money out of Putin’s Russia? How much have the EU27 been selling, compared to the UK?

Next we looked at exports to Russia. EU27 and UK companies are subject to sanctions which supposedly prevent them supplying Putin’s war machine and aiding him with vital supplies while he diverts so much of his country’s productive capacity to his war effort against the Ukrainian people.

The UK’s and the EU’s sanctions regimes are very different. Firstly, the UK government acted very fast and the impact of sanctions was almost immediate. By contrast, the EU was slow in reacting from the very beginning. Since then it has announced numerous new sanctions packages over the past three years - to great fanfare each time - culminating in yet another package which was recently announced.

Quite extraordinarily, these latest sanctions will supposedly not stop the considerable trade which is happening until the end of 2027, by which time all are hoping that the war will have ended some time previously.

Secondly, the UK’s sanctions against Putin have been far more robust and effective. In both UK imports and exports the effects can be seen very rapidly in the official figures. Once again the contrast with the EU is stark and the measures it took were decidedly weak by comparison with the newly independent UK. Below we show the sales of the UK and the EU27 to Russia since the start of the war.

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Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

3. EU exports - How much the EU27 have been supplying to Putin’s Russia
Mar 2022 – Jun 2025

4. UK exports – The almost immediate cutting-off of supplies to Russia
Mar 2022 – Jun 2025

Observations

As we pointed out below

In yesterday’s report Facts4EU revealed the 'family photo' taken in the White House on Monday which included President Trump, President Zelenskyy, Sir Keir Starmer and an assortment of EU leaders, Emmanuel Macron once again managed to get himself alongside the US President as if he were the most important person there.

Meanwhile, our Prime Minister was far off, stage left with Frau 'EU Re-set', Ursula von der Leyen the unelected bureaucrat.

As Sir John Redwood points out, President Macron and his EU friends might want to think a little more about what they have done for Ukraine over the past three-and-a-half years before they overstate their involvement. Our four charts above demonstrate just how little the EU has used the one toolkit it had in its armoury - trade.

The post-Brexit, independent United Kingdom was the first to act and come to Ukraine's help. It did so with weapons, with money, and with a tough and very speedy sanctions regime. All the while, and as is so typical, it took the EU leaders weeks of talks before they could agree to the smallest gestures of assistance. Since then they have forever been playing a game of catch-up with the UK. As can be seen above, their ability - or inclination in many cases - to bring pressure to bear on President Putin has been woefully inadequate.

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

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Fri 22 Aug 2025

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Reader Comments 7

1. Mr Sceptic , Friday, August 22, 2025, 06:49:

‘The EU has intervened against Russian influence there’
Disturbing to read that John Redwood is following Donald Trump’s lead and has now also ceded the narrative control to Putin.

2. Sparky , Friday, August 22, 2025, 07:42:

The Irony.
.
Facts4EU was celebrating when the Hungary voted in Victor Urban as Prime Minister. And critical of the EU when a dispute arose between the EU and Hungary.
.
Now Facts4EU is critical of the EU yet it is Hungary and Slovakia that are still receiving oil direct from Russia worth over $5.4 billion since the start of the Ukraine war.
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And in comes John Redwood criticising the EU for essentially not controlling an EU state still receiving oil from Russia.
.
Meanwhile as I pointed out yesterday the USA imported $3.3 billion of materials from Russia last year alone. And whilst we're at it, bought anything from China recently, Russia is Chinas biggest supplier of crude oil, around $62 billion a year, any purchases from China will have utilised Russian oil.

3. AlwaysBlameSomeoneElse , Friday, August 22, 2025, 12:17:

I realise Facts4EU is short of cash … but this article makes me wonder if Facts4EU is now on the Kremlin payroll.
Putin must be delighted with this article.

4. NH , Friday, August 22, 2025, 13:27:

2. Sp.
There is an agreement between the G7 and other nations [Feb 2023] that the most practical way of reducing Russia's income was to implement a price cap on Russian Oil and Refined Products, significantly below market prices. UK imports from India are covered by this agreement. China is not part of this agreement but it has used the price cap to significantly reduce the price it pays Russia for oil. The result is Russia receives far less income to finance it's war.
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This agreement did not include LNG gas as it's easy to know where it came from. I understand the EU now buys the majority of Russian gas and their imports have increased since the Russian invasion. This is also available from many other sources.
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It's true that the USA imported $3 Billion of goods from Russia in 2024, This compares with EU imports of $41.9 Billion from Russia for the same period. Most of the USA imports where for fertilisers with a smaller amount for rare metals. The EU has also continued importing fertilisers and rare metals from Russia. These were never included in the sanctions, presumably because it would do more harm than good. The USA imports from Russia account for approx. 0.1% of Russian exports.
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The USA is now threatening "secondary tariffs" on anybody who buys Russian oil. This is obviously a negotiating tactic but it seems to be working hopefully, other nations will follow their lead.

5. Sparky , Friday, August 22, 2025, 14:22:

4 NH. The UK has switched a large proportion of imports of oil from Russia to India, £26.6 billion over the last year. Russian exports of oil to India have increased by 20 and now represents around a quarter of India oil imports. Trump has been threatening all sorts as part of his negotiations, most haven't happened. The headlines at the top of this page could quite easily be changed to replace Macron with either he UK or John Redwood.
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The Russian economy is struggling due to the sanctions but so far, seems not enough for there to be any impact on Putin.

6. NH , Friday, August 22, 2025, 14:39:

5. Sp.
Yes as I have said the UK has purchased oil from India using the agreed "price cap" prices so Russia receives less income. USA tariffs on India are due to be increased from 25% to 50% next week. Emanuel Macron is the currently the president of France, John Redwood is very experienced but he is not presently part of the UK Government.

7. Sparky , Saturday, August 23, 2025, 07:01:

6 NH. I agree but the UK is still being supplied by Russia which is not what this piece is saying.

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