Despite consistent sanctions what did they decide against Russia, European countries continue to cooperate with Moscow, canceling the goals of their policies. Participating countries EUROPEAN UNION. jointly decided on ten rounds of sanctions against Russia from last February and the beginning of the war in Ukraine and in theory they show the toughest attitude they have ever shown in any country.

However, as the European Parliament points out in a related investigation, the impact of the sanctions “will not be so strong as to limit Russia’s ability to continue the war against Ukraine this year.” Many of the 27 EU member states are still maintain extensive trade with Russia partly because of successful behind-the-scenes lobbying, partly because Europe does not want to face more economic shocks, and partly because its fears of side effects on global supply chains are very strong. Therefore, instead of starting to introduce new sanctions, the EU is now looking to identify and effectively deal with those who circumvent sanctions and those countries that act as intermediaries for the continuation of trade relations between Russia and the EU countries. Its officials have already named the United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Armenia, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan as potential routes through which trade can be carried out without sanctions.

In 2021, Russia was the EU’s fifth largest trading partner. with commercial transactions reaching a value of 258 billion euros, according to the Commission. The main EU imports from Russia were fuel, wool, iron, steel and fertilizers. According to the latest data from Eurostat, in general, the EU imported products worth 171 billion euros from Russia from March last year to the end of January 2023. Compared to this amount of 60 billion euros, which, according to the Commission, reached the funds provided by the EU. in Ukraine in the 12 months since the start of the war, although this does not include the cost of modern armored vehicles that Kyiv received from Europe.

LNG supplies and imports of fertilizers and products from the Russian nuclear industry have increased since the start of the war.

During the last year of the EU. introduced a ban on the import of Russian coal and Russian offshore oil. And while it has not sanctioned natural gas, since invading Ukraine, Moscow has drastically reduced the flow of gas transported to Europe via pipelines. So, last year the EU received about 40% less Russian gas compared to previous years.

Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is quite different, but Russian LNG supplies to Europe increased after the start of the war and reached 22 billion cubic meters. m in 2022, while in 2021 they did not exceed 16 billion. The volume of Russian LNG is much less than the 155 billion cubic meters of Russian gas sent to Europe before the war. However, the fact that LNG supplies are increasing has prompted some countries to request a legally binding EU decision. for a fuel import ban. After all, no sanctions have been imposed on Russian nuclear energy, since any movement in this direction is met with objections from Bulgaria and Hungary, on whose territory the Russian nuclear power plant is located, which the Russian nuclear energy company Rosatom plans to expand. During 2022, the EU imported products from the Russian nuclear industry worth almost 750 million euros, according to Eurostat.

The EU nuclear energy agency, Euratom, has estimated that in 2021 Russia supplied 1/5 of the uranium needed by EU utilities. However, the French Energy Ministry disputed a recent report by Greenpeace, according to which Paris has dramatically increased its imports of enriched uranium from Russia following its invasion of Ukraine. An important chapter in EU trade relations. with Russia – petrochemical products, like the EU. last year imported fertilizers from Russia worth 2.6 billion euros. This amount is 40% more compared to 2021 levels, but according to Eurostat, this increase is due to a price spike when quantity decreases.