Trade turnover between the European Union and Russia fell to the lowest levels on record. Moscow has effectively lost its status as one of Europe’s key trading partners, the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine reports.
The scale of the decline in mutual trade indicates not a temporary downturn but a structural break in economic ties between the EU and Russia.
Minus 81.5% over four years of war
According to the agency, compared to the fourth quarter of 2021, the last full quarter before Russia’s full-scale aggression against Ukraine, mutual trade decreased by 5.4 times, or approximately 81.5%.
In the period from the first quarter of 2022 to the fourth quarter of 2025, EU exports to Russia fell by 61%, while imports from Russia collapsed by 90%.
Russia’s share in the structure of the European Union’s external supplies dropped from 3.2% to 1.2%, and in imports, from 9.2% to 1.0%.
These figures mark the end of the pre-war model of interdependence, built over the years on energy resources, mechanical engineering, and technological cooperation.
Oil embargo flipped the balance in Europe’s favor
Europe is now recording a stable surplus in trade with Russia: in the fourth quarter of 2025, the positive balance for the EU amounted to €1.5 billion.
By comparison, in the second quarter of 2022, the European Union’s deficit from energy imports alone reached a peak of €42.7 billion, and by the end of 2025, this figure had fallen to €3.3 billion.
The Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine directly links the reversal of the trade balance to the oil embargo, the sharp reduction in Russian gas supplies, and lower global energy prices. These factors undermined Russia's main source of foreign-currency revenue for the state budget from the European direction.
What does the EU still buy from and sell to Russia?
As of today, mutual trade is preserved only for a narrow list of items. According to the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine, Russia receives:
- pharmaceutical products
- certain types of machinery
- plastics from the EU
These goods fall under humanitarian exemptions or have not yet been included in sanctions lists. At the same time, the loss of civilized sales markets, access to European technologies, investment, and financial infrastructure is gradually narrowing opportunities for modernization and long-term development of the Russian economy.
Reorientation to alternative markets does not compensate for the loss of the European direction, either in the quality of partnerships or in the volume of capital and technological cooperation. From a strategic perspective, it means deepening Russia's structural isolation and growing dependence on a limited circle of countries.
