Western countries buy roughly $1 billion (£765 million) of oil, gas and coal from Russia, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused these nations of “financing the killings of Ukrainians”. Andrei Illarionov, Putin’s former economic policy advisor, said that energy sanctions are the only thing that can “affect Putin’s decision-making process” short of increased and total military support from all nations.
Speaking to LBC, Mr Illarionov said: “This is probably the single most important decision that can affect Putin’s decision-making process.
“At this moment, Putin receives about $1 billion a day for the exporting of energy from Russia to western Europe and other countries.
“With such resources that he is receiving from the West, he can continue this war for a long, long time.
Asked by LBC host Eddie Mair about the economic impact on Western Europe of stopping the use of Russian energy, the former Putin advisor gave a chilling response.
He said: “You need to choose: Would you like to continue this bloodshed or to have some economic problems?”
While a number of financial sanctions have been placed on Russian oligarchs, Mr Illarionov said that these moves will make little difference to Putin.
Roughly forty percent of the European Union’s member states’ natural gas imports come from Russia, with Germany among the most reliant.
Since the beginning of the war in Ukraine, Germany has given more than £29 billion in revenue from the EU to Russia in exchange for energy.
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On Tuesday, the European Commission proposed plans to stop Europe’s dependence on Russian fossil fuels before 2030, starting with gas.
But Putin on Thursday said mockingly that western countries “cannot do without Russian energy resources”.
He said: “What’s astonishing is that the so-called partners from unfriendly countries concede themselves that they won’t be able to make do without Russian energy resources”.
The Russian President then claimed plans to redirect energy eastward were already in motion with the likes of India and China.