The European Commission, in a statement, announced an 85% decline in EU payments to Russia for energy imports from the country compared with the period before the Kremlin’s military invasion of Ukraine.

EU energy imports from Russia in 2021 and prior to the military invasion of Ukraine were about $108 billion, of which nearly $18 billion was for gas, $71 billion for oil and oil products, and the rest included other types of energy.

Following European sanctions against Russia, the Kremlin, despite increasing oil exports to Asian countries, made an unsuccessful attempt to replace China’s gas market with the EU—so that, according to the latest customs figures from China, the total purchases of Russian natural and liquefied gas by this country in the first half of this year were only $6.4 billion, which differs by less than $4 billion from the corresponding period in 2021.

The European Commission adds that, overall, EU exports to Russia have fallen by about 66% from 2021 to the end of last year, and its imports from this country have dropped by 83%.