Europe increased its imports of Russian diesel by more than a fifth in July, highlighting the big challenge the continent faces in breaking away from Moscow’s energy supplies and choking funding for its war in Ukraine.
The region imported almost 700,000 barrels a day of the fuel from Russia last month, higher than the previous month and a 22 per cent increase compared with July last year, according to Vortexa, a tanker tracking group.
The increase demonstrates the difficulty the EU will face in dialling down its imports of Russian diesel to zero by February as the bloc has vowed to do in response to Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.