United States President Donald Trump has called on China and India to stop buying oil from Russia, saying that by doing so they are financially supporting the Kremlin's war against Ukraine.
Trump has raised the issue as part of efforts to push Russian President Vladimir Putin to accept a ceasefire.
However, cheap Russian oil benefits refineries in China and India, while simultaneously meeting their energy needs, and these countries have shown no willingness to stop this practice.
Following the European Union's decision to halt maritime imports of Russian oil from January 2023, China, India, and Turkey have become the main beneficiaries of this oil.
Since then, China has become the largest buyer of Russian energy, spending nearly $219.5 billion on oil, gas and coal. India spent $133.4 billion, while Turkey spent $90.3 billion, according to data published by the Kiev School of Economics. Before the invasion of Ukraine, India imported very little oil from Russia.
Hungary, an EU member state, continues to import some Russian oil through a pipeline. Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban is among the most vocal critics of sanctions against Russia within the European bloc.
Russian oil typically trades cheaper than the international Brent standard, which allows refiners to significantly increase profits when processing it into products such as diesel or gasoline.
According to the Kiev School of Economics, Russia earned $12.6 billion from oil sales in June alone. The G7 countries have set a price ceiling to limit Moscow's profits, prohibiting insurance and transport companies from engaging in shipments above this ceiling.
But Russia has largely managed to circumvent this measure through a "shadow fleet" - older ships operating with the help of traders registered in countries that do not enforce the sanctions.
According to forecasts by the Kiev Institute, oil exports will bring Russia up to $153 billion by 2025. Fossil fuels remain the main source of budget revenue for Russia and help strengthen the ruble as well as purchase goods from other countries – including military equipment and parts for them. /REL (A2 Televizion)
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