President Donald Trump on September 23, 2025, urged European partners in NATO to immediately cut dependence on Russian oil and gas, arguing they are “funding the war against themselves” by continuing to buy Moscow’s energy.
In his United Nations General Assembly address in New York, Trump said China and India remain major buyers of Russian oil and scolded European allies for not severing purchases of oil and liquefied natural gas.
“Who the hell ever heard of that one?” he said, calling for what he described as a coordinated economic squeeze tied to the war in Ukraine.
The UNGA message and a tariff threat
Trump said that if Russia refuses to agree to a deal to end the fighting, the United States is prepared to impose “a very strong round of powerful tariffs,” and he pressed European capitals to match any such measures.
He argued the steps would curb Kremlin revenues that finance the war. He told leaders gathered at the UN that Europe is geographically closer to the conflict and must “step it up,” insisting that energy purchases from Russia should cease “immediately.”
The White House did not release additional policy details during the speech, and European diplomats offered muted immediate reactions.
Energy purchases under scrutiny
European countries slashed pipeline oil and gas imports from Russia after the February 2022 invasion, but they did not eliminate them entirely. The European Union banned most seaborne Russian crude in 2022, while allowing limited pipeline flows under exemptions.
Hungary and Slovakia still receive crude via the Druzhba pipeline under those carve-outs, a status documented in regional supply updates.
On gas, the EU has steadily reduced its dependence and is moving to legally phase out Russian pipeline gas and LNG by the end of 2027, with staged restrictions on new and existing contracts proposed by the European Commission.
Despite the shift, several EU members still import Russian LNG. France, Belgium and Spain rank among Europe’s larger buyers of Russian LNG volumes, with France also acting as a key transshipment and re-export hub to neighboring markets.
Data shows Russia’s share of EU LNG fell to 14% in the second quarter of 2025, down from 22% in early 2021, and that Spain, Belgium, the Netherlands and France are the primary EU destinations for that LNG today.
Who is still buying and why
Hungary and Slovakia continue to rely on Russian crude delivered through Druzhba because alternative routes require infrastructure upgrades and may raise costs.
Their governments have repeatedly defended the exemptions as necessary for energy security. On gas, France remains a leading European importer of Russian LNG. Analysts note that part of the persistence owes to long-term “take or pay” contracts that lock in deliveries for years, including a French contract to receive around 4 million tons a year from Yamal LNG that runs to 2032. The Commission’s 2025 proposal envisions ending imports under long-term contracts by January 1, 2028, which would force companies to unwind such deals.
Belgium and Spain also receive sizable LNG cargoes from Russia, and some volumes are re-exported to other European grids. Analysis in 2024 showed how LNG now lands at western European terminals and then moves east through pipelines, reversing traditional flow patterns that once brought gas westward from Russia.
Europe’s energy mix has changed markedly since the invasion. Most EU members ended Russian coal imports and slashed crude purchases, and gas flows fell as the bloc ramped up non-Russian LNG and pipeline supplies from Norway and North Africa.
The Commission has proposed using trade and energy law to phase out the remainder of Russian gas and LNG, aiming to bypass unanimity requirements that could allow a single member to veto the plan. The approach and timeline appeared in public proposals circulated in mid 2025.
