President Trump urged European leaders Thursday to stop buying Russian oil once and for all — and step up economic pressure on China “for funding Russia’s war efforts,” a White House official told The Post.
Trump made the demand after a meeting in Paris of the “Coalition of the Willing,” a group of more than 30 European nations committed to supporting Ukraine and hammering out security guarantees that will help end Moscow’s 42-month-old invasion.
“[French] President [Emmanuel] Macron and European leaders called President Trump into their ‘Coalition of the Willing’ meeting,” the official said. “President Trump emphasized that Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war — as Russia received $1.3 billion in fuel sales from the EU in one year.
President Trump urged European leaders Thursday to stop buying Russian oil once and for all — and step up economic pressure on China “for funding Russia’s war efforts,” a White House official told The Post. REUTERS
“The President also emphasized that European leaders must place economic pressure on China for funding Russia’s war efforts.”
The two major European countries still importing Russian oil, Hungary and Slovakia, are friendly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The European Union granted Budapest and Bratislava exemptions to its embargo of Russian crude in 2022 due to both countries’ reliance on Moscow for their energy needs.
However, France, Belgium and Spain — all proclaimed adversaries of the Kremlin — accounted for roughly 85% of all Russian liquid natural gas (LNG) imports in 2024, according to the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis.
The US remains the main provider of LNG to Europe — but there is potential for its share to grow should Europe fully divest from Russia’s energy sector.
“While the bloc decreased its imports of LNG from the US, Qatar and Algeria last year, those from Russia rose by 18%,” the IEEFA said in a February report.
The EU in July proposed legislation that would fully phase out the purchase of Russian oil by Jan 1, 2028, but it has yet to be adopted.
Brussels also lowered the price cap for crude oil from Russia to $47.6 per barrel, down from the earlier $60 cap.