Trump urges Europe to 'immediately' stop buying Russian energy at UN meeting

US officials will meet with European counterparts at the UN meeting in New York to urge them to stop buying Russian energy and impose tariffs on countries that continue to buy Russian energy, US President Donald Trump told the UN General Assembly on Sept. 23.

Trump reiterated that the US is ready to impose powerful secondary tariffs to stop the war. "But for those tariffs to be effective, European nations, all of you gathered here right now, would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures," he said.

"They have to immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia," he said. "We're going to discuss it today with the European nations all gathered here."

Trump first raised the idea on Sept. 13, arguing that he is ready to impose "major sanctions" on Russia if NATO members stop buying Russian oil and implement 50% to 100% tariffs on China for its purchases of Russian energy.

The EU plans to phase out its purchase of Russian oil and gas by Jan. 1, 2028. As part of its latest sanctions package, the EU on Sept. 19 proposed speeding up the process to phase out Russian LNG by Jan. 1, 2027, and imposing additional sanctions on Russian energy.

Three NATO members are the main buyers of Russian crude: Turkey, Hungary and Slovakia. Turkey imported an average of 330,000 b/d of seaborne crude from Russia in 2024, according to S&P Global Commodities at Sea data.

Russia exported an average of 230,000 b/d of oil on the Druzhba pipeline in 2024, according to S&P Global Commodity Insights analysts. This included some deliveries to Czechia, along with Hungary and Slovakia, though Czechia stopped its imports earlier this year.

Speaking later in the day in a press briefing with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Trump said that he thought he could persuade Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to stop buying Russian oil.

"He's a friend of mine. I have not spoken to him, but I have a feeling if I did, he might stop, and I think I'll be doing that," Trump said.

Trump added that NATO countries should shoot down Russian aircraft if they enter their airspace. When asked if he would help NATO in this effort, Trump said, "In some way. It depends on the circumstances, but we're very strong on NATO."

EC President: 'We're on it'

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said the EU is working on reducing its energy purchases from Russia.

"President Trump is absolutely right," she said. "We're on it."

While the EU has already "massively" reduced the gas and oil supplies from Russia, Europe is still going after the last bits of the trade, she said. "So what we do now, we put sanctions out to those ports where, for example, LNG is coming from Russia, and we want to put tariffs on oil supplies that are still coming to the European Union."

Speaking separately at an Atlantic Council event on the sidelines of the UN meeting, EC Director General for Energy Ditte Juul Jørgensen also emphasized the progress Europe has made in weaning off Russian oil and gas supplies.

Russian oil and coal are essentially out of Europe's system with a "very small" exception for two countries in Europe that represent 3% of the overall oil consumption, Jørgensen said.

European dependence on Russian gas has declined from 45% to 15%, and the EU has proposed regulations to phase out the remaining supplies, Jørgensen said. The phaseout will work in concert with the recently proposed EU sanctions, she said.

When asked about Trump's decision to pressure India over its purchases of Russian oil, Jørgensen said Europe is taking a comprehensive approach to its ongoing trade talks with India.

"Obviously, the conversation will have to reflect the geopolitical realities and challenges, and see how do we best approach them together. But we are very much, as a European Union, we are very much open for business, open for investments and open for partnerships," Jørgensen said.

Jørgensen was also optimistic that Europe could carry out environmental regulations in a manner conducive to transatlantic trade and investment. She said she was confident that Europe can implement its methane regulation "in a way that doesn't constitute an irritant in any way."

US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Sept. 12 that the EU's methane emission regulation and Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive would impede US-EU energy trade.

Jørgensen said the EU is already proposing to simplify its CSDDD regulation, which requires large companies to conduct due diligence on human rights and the environment along their value chains.

"We have an interest in that simplification ourselves as well," she said. "Our industry, our investors, have an interest in that simplification. At the same time, we're, of course, making sure that we have the stable and predictable regulatory framework so that there's clarity for investments in Europe."