The European Union has managed for the first time in history to bend the arm of the historical trade deficit with Russia. In the second quarter of this year, Europe sold more to Moscow than it bought. Specifically, 500 million euros more. The figure is far from compensating for the benefits that the Soviet country has accumulated after decades of imbalance with the Twenty-Seven. But the surplus is unprecedented and represents a significant victory for Europe, which just before the war maintained a negative trade balance of 43,000 million with the government of Vladimir Putin.
This is confirmed by the latest Eurostat data, updated this Thursday, which raise the collapse of imports to Russia to 89% between the beginning of 2022 and June 2025. Although at a slower pace, during this time, European exports to Moscow have also fallen by 61%.
If we focus on the period from April to June of this year, imports from Russia decreased, while exports increased. This is what has finally allowed the EU to reverse the historic trade gap. For Europe, the real challenge now is to prevent this from being an isolated fact.
This process is a direct consequence of the sanctions imposed by Brussels following the invasion of Ukraine, mainly in the energy sector. The fall in the deficit for energy products has been meteoric. If at the end of June the gap between energy purchases and sales was close to 43,000 million negative, the latest available data points to a deficit of 4,200 million.
To a large extent, it is the change in the EU's energy supply dynamics that has motivated the shift in the trade balance between the two blocs. Europe has drastically changed its list of energy suppliers, mainly by yielding the seat previously held by Moscow to the United States.
If in the run-up to the war, Russian oil (banned in the EU) accounted for 29% of the 27's purchases, it now barely reaches around 2%. Regarding natural gas purchases, although the EU has not dared to ban its importation, purchases of Russian fuel have decreased from 39,000 million euros at the beginning of 2021 to 13,000 million in the second quarter of this year.
The end of Russian fuel has led to a surge in made in USA fuel. Liquefied natural gas (LNG), transported by ship, has been gaining ground over pipeline fuel entering Europe. In the former, Russia now has a 19% share, compared to the U.S.'s 48%. As for pipeline deliveries, Moscow held 48% in 202; today it represents 12%.
According to the latest data from the European Commission, the North American power is now the largest supplier of LNG to Europe (55%) and its main crude oil supplier (17%).