When Donald Trump stood before the United Nations General Assembly and declared that “China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil,” his statement carried a familiar ring of scapegoating. What it ignored was the far larger role played by the United States and Europe in fueling the war in Ukraine, both through massive financial outlays and through their own continued trade with Russia. India, which turned to Russian energy imports only after being pushed out of its traditional supply markets by Europe, has been unfairly accused of sustaining Moscow’s war machine. The reality is that Washington and Brussels, while castigating New Delhi, are themselves the largest funders of this prolonged conflict.
Billions flow from US and EU coffers to keep the war alive
Since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the United States has spent staggering sums on sustaining Kyiv’s resistance. According to the Kiel Institute, a Germany-based think tank, Washington had spent $130.6 billion between January 2022 and June 2025. This figure includes military, financial, and humanitarian support. The U.S. Department of Defense itself reported that $184.8 billion had already been appropriated by March 2025 under Operation Atlantic Resolve, the American program aimed at countering Russian aggression in Europe. Another detailed breakdown from USAFacts shows that the United States allocated $182.8 billion in emergency funding for Ukraine and the region since the war began, though only $83.4 billion has actually been disbursed. Crucially, of this aid, 68%, amounting to $123.9 billion, has gone to the Department of Defense, and 71% of all allocations, totaling $130.7 billion, have been purely security assistance.
In addition, the US has drawn heavily on its Presidential Drawdown Authority, transferring $45.8 billion worth of weapons and equipment from American military stocks directly to Ukraine. This figure alone surpasses the entire annual defense budget of several mid-sized nations. With such vast sums committed, the United States is by any measure the single largest financier of the war. Yet it has simultaneously sought to shift attention by blaming India for buying oil at market-discounted prices to secure its own energy security.
President Donald Trump criticized China, India and several NATO nations who continue to purchase oil from Russia amid the war in Ukraine during his speech before the United Nations General Assembly https://t.co/vZ7OZMpeay pic.twitter.com/U3dkKJfU2C
— Bloomberg TV (@BloombergTV) September 23, 2025
Europe has not lagged behind in financing the conflict. The Kiel Institute calculates that between January 2022 and June 2025, European nations collectively spent $165.7 billion on Ukraine, surpassing the American figure in total. This includes aid from the European Union itself as well as bilateral contributions from individual member states. The European Union’s own data shows that by mid-2025 its members had committed nearly $180 billion, with loans making up 35% of the total. The UK alone had pledged $29.5 billion by July 2025, including $17.6 billion in military support. In effect, while the United States leads in grant-based aid, Europe is channeling an enormous volume of loans and financial instruments that keep Kyiv afloat. This dual role of Washington and Brussels, simultaneously financing Ukraine’s war effort while pointing fingers at India, reveals a double standard. Far from being bystanders, the Western powers are underwriting the continuation of the conflict through their unprecedented levels of aid.
Western sanctions hypocrisy as US and Europe keep trading with Russia
Even more striking is the trade relationship that both the U.S. and Europe continue to maintain with Russia despite their rhetoric of sanctions and moral outrage. Europe’s bilateral trade with Russia in 2024 alone stood at €67.5 billion in goods, alongside €17.2 billion worth of services in 2023. These numbers dwarf India’s overall trade with Russia during the same period. European imports of Russian liquefied natural gas (LNG) surged to a record 16.5 million tonnes in 2024, even higher than the 15.21 million tonnes imported in 2022. These volumes illustrate the quiet dependence Europe still has on Russian energy supplies, even as it presses India to cut its much smaller oil imports.
The European trade basket with Russia is not confined to energy. It includes fertilizers, mining products, chemicals, iron and steel, machinery, and transport equipment. In other words, Europe continues to engage in diversified trade that supports multiple sectors of the Russian economy. If purchasing discounted oil for domestic energy security is construed as funding the war, then Europe’s broad-spectrum imports directly sustain Russia’s industrial and economic base.
The United States, too, continues to maintain its own economic links with Russia, despite official sanctions. Washington remains dependent on imports of uranium hexafluoride for its nuclear power industry, palladium for its electric vehicle sector, and Russian fertilizers and chemicals for its agricultural and industrial needs. These trades are not occasional or marginal but they represent strategic dependencies. This undercuts the moral grandstanding with which Washington criticizes India’s oil purchases.
India prioritises energy security to shield its people from global price shocks
In contrast, India’s decision to increase imports of Russian crude after 2022 was shaped by necessity rather than choice. When the war broke out and Europe diverted traditional suppliers towards its own energy security, India was left with few options. At that time, the United States itself encouraged India to buy Russian oil to help stabilize global markets and prevent runaway price increases. New Delhi’s purchases were designed to ensure affordable and predictable energy costs for its population, a critical requirement for any major developing economy. These were not luxury trades but national compulsions.
Trump now said USA will be increasing the tariffs for India further because India is buying Russian oil.
Meanwhile, EU raised their Russian gas imports by 37% in July. Despite sanctions, the US continues to import uranium and oil from Russia. pic.twitter.com/SKVYHjNPEb
— The Hawk Eye (@thehawkeyex) August 4, 2025
Unlike Europe, which engages in a wide-ranging trade with Russia far beyond the energy sector, India’s engagement has been focused and functional. It has centered on securing discounted crude oil, refining it for domestic needs, and stabilizing its economy in an era of global turbulence. In proportional terms, Europe’s imports, both in volume and value, have been far greater than India’s. Yet Europe and the United States have singled out India for criticism, seeking to portray its actions as undermining sanctions, while quietly conducting their own trade.
The disparity becomes even more pronounced when the scale of funding is considered. India has not spent a rupee in financing the Ukraine war, either directly or indirectly. On the other hand, the United States has allocated close to $183 billion, and Europe nearly $166 billion, according to the Kiel Institute, with Brussels’ own data pushing the number closer to $180 billion. These funds are not abstract but they represent weapons shipments, financial flows, and loans that sustain Ukraine’s war effort and prolong the conflict.
This context makes Trump’s remarks particularly hollow. Having imposed an additional 25% levy on Indian imports in August, raising overall tariffs to 50% in an attempt to pressure New Delhi to end its oil purchases, Washington continues to posture as though India were the linchpin of Moscow’s survival. In fact, it is U.S. and European financial transfers that form the backbone of Kyiv’s resistance and, by extension, the continuation of the war. By their own numbers, Washington and Brussels are the true financiers of the conflict.
The targeting of India is therefore unjustified and unreasonable. New Delhi’s policy has been guided by national interest and global market stability. It has ensured that Indian consumers are shielded from the volatility unleashed by the war and by the Western sanctions regime itself. Unlike Washington and Brussels, India has not contributed to the perpetuation of conflict.
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