Russia has remained China's largest crude supplier, but those flows fell to 2 million b/d (83.15 million metric tons) in the first 10 months of 2025, down 7.7% year over year, according to data from China's General Administration of Customs.

Speaking to journalists, Putin said he "hoped" the latest US sanctions on Russia's oil sector -- targeting Rosneft and Lukoil directly -- wouldn't unduly impact the market, but warned removing Russian oil was likely to push up prices, saying he had "discussed this with my American colleagues."

Russian-origin crude liftings from Russian ports reached 3.88 million b/d, the highest since April 2024,

These new measures follow the 18th sanctions package, unveiled in July 2025, which lowered the oil price cap on Russian crude to US$47.6/bbl,

In Brussels, Belgium, Secretary Wright met with members of the European Parliament and Commission, stressing the benefits of U.S.-E.U. energy partnerships, ending Europe’s reliance on Russian oil and gas, and the need to shift away from policies that lead to more expensive energy and inhibit long-term energy agreements in the EU.

Trump has repeatedly threatened the largest buyers of Russian crude with sanctions if a deal to end the war in Ukraine is not reached. On Aug. 6, Trump issued an executive order raising tariffs on US imports from India from 25% to 50%, in response to what Trump described on Truth Social as India's "massive" purchases of Russian crude.

Imports of goods from Russia in the first quarter of 2025 totaled 8.74 billion euros ($10.11 billion), down from 30.58 billion euros four years earlier. Since January 2022, the EU has imported 297 billion euros' worth of Russian goods.

Trump's threat to India over its purchases of Russian oil started on July 31, when he announced a 25% tariff for Indian goods, along with an unspecified penalty.

Calculations based on data from European gas transmission group Entsog showed that Russian gas exports via the TurkStream pipeline rose to 51.5 million cubic metres (mcm) per day in July from 37.6 mcm per day in June.

Hungary and Slovakia decided to block the sanctions package in response to European Union plans to phase out Russian energy imports, the minister said.

These primarily impact China and India, who are the largest buyers of Russian oil. Both have begun turning away Russian tankers over the past few days in anticipation of the move.

“The Department of State’s designations aim to reduce Russia’s oil and natural gas revenue through sanctions on operators of significant Russian crude oil production and liquified natural gas projects. We are designating the chief executive officer and members of State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom’s (Rosatom),” according to a State Department Fact Sheet.

The sanctions, however, made exemptions for transactions related to the Sakhalin-2 oil and gas project in Russia's far east until June 28, 2025, according to an updated general license published by the treasury department.

Russian gas is still being sold in significant volumes to Slovakia and Hungary, as well as to the Czech Republic which does not have a direct contract. Smaller volumes are going to Italy and Serbia.

What many aren’t aware of is that Russia remains one of the continent’s most important energy suppliers, and the European Union’s goal to end its dependence on Russian fossil fuels by 2027 will be hard to achieve.