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EU trade with Russia has fallen sharply since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The EU introduced many import and export restrictions, leading to a 61% fall in exports to Russia and an 89% fall in imports from Russia between the first quarter of 2022 and the second quarter of 2025.
According to Euronews research based on Eurostat data, trade in the second quarter of 2025 dropped to the lowest level since 2002, when records began. In the same quarter, the EU also recorded its first trade surplus with Russia in more than 20 years.
So, what are the main export and import flows in 2025? How has trade between the EU and Russia changed since the invasion of Ukraine? And how important is trade with Russia for the EU?
EU trade with Russia
According to Eurostat, in the second quarter of 2025 imports from Russia fell, while exports to Russia rose compared with the previous quarter. As a result, the EU’s trade balance with Russia, which had always shown a deficit, turned into a small surplus of €0.5 billion. Imports were worth €7 billion, while exports to Russia reached €7.5 billion, bringing total trade to €14.5 billion.
This represents an 82% drop in trade volume compared with the first quarter of 2022, when the Russian invasion began and trade stood at €81.9 billion. That quarter marked the third-highest level since records began in 2002, with the peak reached in the first quarter of 2013 at €82.9 billion.
The EU, together with the G7 countries and other like-minded partners, stopped treating Russia as ‘a Most-Favoured-Nation‘ and implemented a fourth package of sanctions on 15 March 2022. This removed key trade benefits that Russia enjoyed as a World Trade Organization (WTO) member. Instead of raising import tariffs, the EU chose to act through sanctions, including bans and restrictions on both imports and exports of certain goods.
The share of trade with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine
Until 24 February 2022, when it invaded Ukraine, Russia was one of the EU’s main trading partners. Since then, its role has diminished dramatically, as shown by the decline in its share of extra-EU trade rather than nominal figures alone.
Extra-EU trade refers to transactions with all countries outside the EU.
Russia’s share of extra-EU exports fell from 3.2% in the first quarter of 2022 to 1.2% in the second quarter of 2025. Over the same period, its share of extra-EU imports dropped from 9.3% to just 1.1%. This an 88% decline.
EU’s energy deficit with Russia falls to €4.2 billion
The EU’s overall trade balance with Russia is closely linked to energy products. In 2021 and 2022, high energy prices pushed the energy trade deficit to a peak of €42.8 billion in the second quarter of 2022. By the second quarter of 2025, however, import restrictions and lower energy prices had reduced the deficit to €4.2 billion.
At the same time, the EU’s surplus in machinery and vehicles dropped sharply from €9.7 billion in the second quarter of 2021 to just €0.5 billion in the second quarter of 2025.
Chemicals and related products were not affected by the sanctions. By mid-2025, they accounted for the EU’s largest trade surplus with Russia at €2.8 billion, down from €3.2 billion in the second quarter of 2021.
EU’s energy dependence on Russia falling
The EU’s goal is to reduce its energy dependence on Russia, and significant progress has been made. In the first quarter of 2021, Russia was the EU’s largest supplier of petroleum oils. Following the invasion of Ukraine, however, a major shift took place in the EU’s oil trade.
The EU ban on seaborne imports of Russian crude oil, which came into effect on 5 December 2022, together with the embargo on refined oil products, led to a sharp decline in imports from Russia. As a result, Russia’s share of petroleum oil imports fell from 29% in the first quarter of 2021 to just 2% in the second quarter of 2025. During the same period, the share of imports from the US rose by 5 percentage points (pp), and from Norway by 4pp.
Over the same period, Russia’s share of EU natural gas imports dropped from 39% to 13%. Nickel imports fell from 41% to 15%, while iron and steel declined from 18% to 6%.