For many years, several European countries looked to do business with the Kremlin in an attempt to increase economic ties with Russia and at least try to keep Putin as close to western values as possible. This was certainly the case of Germany, which rapidly increased its energy supplies from Russia, even after Moscow’s illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014. Hungary, another EU country, has also deepened its ties to the Kremlin in recent years.
Amid several western countries announcing sanctions on Russia, numerous media reports have highlighted western hypocrisy behind it and critics of the invasion noted that sanctions imposed by the United States, Britain, European Union among others do not, in fact, target areas such as energy purchase, banking and international payments system SWIFT. Russian oil only accounts for 2% of total Indian imports and with continued deals between Europe and Russia despite the war, the West’s Hypocrisy over India’s deal for Russian oil stands exposed.
