India bought over 20% of Russia's Ukraine war-period crude exports

But China imported fossil fuel worth 29%, and European Union worth 23%

- BY S VENKAT NARAYAN OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

India purchased 132 billion Euro worth of Russian oil since the Ukraine war began in early 2022. This accounts for a fifth of Moscow's Euro 640-billion oil export earnings in the period, according to Finland-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

But China's purchases amount to 29%, and the European Union's 23%. However, India’s oil imports from Russia trail China’s Euro193 billion but exceed those of the European Union (EU) and Turkiye at Euro 105 billion and INR71 billion, respectively, CREA said.

India also bought Euro 16 billion of Russian coal, taking its total fossil fuel imports from Moscow to Euro 148 billion. Russia, in all, earned Euro 931 billion from exports of oil, gas, and coal since the start of the war.