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U.S. President Donald Trump on Thursday called on European leaders to cease buying Russian oil and to exert economic pressure on China, accusing Beijing of helping fund Moscow’s war against Ukraine, according to a White House official.
The appeal came after Trump joined a "Coalition of the Willing" meeting in Paris hosted by French President Emmanuel Macron, where leaders discussed security guarantees for Ukraine.
"President Trump emphasized that Europe must stop purchasing Russian oil that is funding the war," the official said, noting that Russia received €1.1 billion ($1.27 billion) in fuel sales from the European Union in one year.
The official added that Trump urged European governments to "place economic pressure on China for funding Russia’s war efforts."
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters in Paris that Trump expressed dissatisfaction with countries still importing Russian energy. "President Trump is very dissatisfied that Russia’s oil is being purchased by Europe. Among others, there are two countries, we know that these are Hungary and Slovakia," Zelenskyy said after a meeting of Ukraine’s allies on security guarantees for Kyiv.
The European Commission has already proposed legislation to phase out imports of Russian oil and gas by January 1, 2028, as part of Brussels’s effort to sever longstanding energy ties with Moscow, following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
According to Eurostat data, the EU’s reliance on Russian energy has sharply decreased in recent years. Imports of petroleum oil from Russia fell from 29% of total EU imports in the first quarter of 2021 to just 2% by the second quarter of 2025.
Similarly, Russia’s share of EU natural gas imports in gaseous form dropped from 48% in early 2021 to 12% in the same period this year.
In July, Trump threatened Russia and its energy partners with a 100% tariff if President Vladimir Putin did not take concrete steps toward a peace deal to end the war in Ukraine. After the first meeting between Putin and Trump was held in Alaska in mid-August, tensions eased temporarily.
However, continuing Russian attacks in Ukraine reignited the standoff, as U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said this week that "all options are on the table" while the Trump administration considers new sanctions against Moscow.
Trump also imposed a 50% tariff on India in late August after the country shrugged off U.S. warnings and expanded its purchases of discounted Russian crude.
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