Not continuing to finance Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine is not so obvious to the European Union. Last month, the region imported 700,000 barrels of oil per day. That is 22% more than the same month a year earlier, according to figures from Vortex, an oil tanker tracking group, cited by the Financial Times.

Half of Europe’s diesel imports

Russia currently accounts for more than half of the region’s diesel imports, or 15% of the European Union’s total consumption. And demand could still increase: Natural gas and electricity prices are constantly rising, encouraging manufacturers to consume more diesel.

This represents a lot of buying, despite a deal voted by the 27 to cut their imports of Russian oil by 90% by February. Finally, the European Union decided to relax it last month, for example, by authorizing companies to carry out transactions with Rosneft, a Russian oil extraction company.

Agreement between France and the Emirates

For its part, France imported a quarter of its diesel from Russia two years ago. To overcome this, it now turns to other providers, such as the United Arab Emirates, with which the country signed an agreement last month.