Over the past four and a half years, Russia has received around US$620 billion in revenue from oil and gas sales to China, India and Turkey. This was stated by Arseniy Yatsenyuk, Chairman of the Kyiv Security Forum and former Prime Minister of Ukraine, during a discussion at Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs.
According to him, trade volumes between China and Russia have effectively doubled, reaching around US$250 billion.
“China isn’t neutral. China actually supports this war. And China is an ally to Russia. It has made around US$27 billion in profit thanks to Russian discounts on oil,” Yatsenyuk emphasised.
Apart from that, the KSF Chairman drew attention to the role of Turkey, a NATO member state, which, he said, has provided Russia with around US$125 billion in revenue from energy sales.
He also stressed the need to step up sanctions pressure on Russia and ensure compliance with the restrictions already in place.
“If we turn the screw on Russia, if the Iran war stops and oil prices go down, if a miracle happens and Americans restart their support to Ukraine, if the European Union provides additional financial support to Ukraine, I believe that Russia will back down,” Yatsenyuk stated.
Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs, is one of the world’s most authoritative independent think tanks, specialising in international relations and global security issues.
The discussion was moderated by Ben Hall, the Europe editor at the Financial Times.