As President Volodymyr Zelenskyy meets Prime Minister Keir Starmer and other European leaders at the Coalition of the Willing meeting in London today, Ukrainian campaign group Razom We Stand welcomes the UK’s continued support for Ukraine, but warns that Britain must urgently confront its remaining financial ties to Russia’s fossil fuel trade.
The UK has shown leadership in sanctioning Russian energy since the start of the full-scale invasion, banning imports of Russian coal in August 2022, crude and oil products in December 2022, and Russian LNG from January 2023.
Yet, UK-based companies and insurers continue to facilitate the Kremlin’s fossil fuel exports that finance its war against Ukraine.
Dr Svitlana Romanko, Founder and Director of Razom We Stand, said, “The UK has stood shoulder to shoulder with Ukraine in so many ways, but now it must face the uncomfortable truth that British companies and insurers are still enabling Putin’s war machine.
“How can the UK continue to allow its companies to work with a country that targets a kindergarten with military missiles? As President Zelenskyy visits London, we urge the UK government to show that its moral leadership matches its words by ending once and for all the flow of Russian LNG carried or insured by British firms.
“The fact that 76% of the total export value of Russian LNG was carried on UK-owned or insured vessels is scandalous. These firms are directly assisting one of the Kremlin’s most significant revenue streams and helping to fund the very bombs that target Ukrainian cities daily. The people of Ukraine cannot afford any more delays, the UK must ban companies like Seapeak from assisting with the shipment of Russian LNG and put a stop to UK P&I insurers facilitating Russia’s fossil fuel industry immediately.”
Glasgow-based Seapeak Maritime Ltd manages seven tankers transporting Russian LNG from the Yamal project in Siberia, shipping 7.56 million tonnes in 2024, more than one-third of Yamal’s total exports. This trade was worth an estimated £2.9 billion and generated £127 million in Russian tax revenue, including £71 million directly to the federal treasury, enough to fund 2,700 Shahed drones or 45 Iskander-M missiles used daily to attack Ukrainian civilians.
Meanwhile, UK Protection and Indemnity (P&I) insurers continue to underwrite roughly one-third of Russia’s total seaborne exports, including £159.3 billion worth of crude and oil products since February 2022. Overall, UK-owned or insured vessels have facilitated £205.8 billion in Russian oil, gas, and LNG exports since the invasion, more than double the Kremlin’s annual military budget. This means that 76% of the total export value of Russian LNG was carried on UK-owned or insured vessels.
Razom We Stand calls on the UK government to:
- Ban all UK-owned and UK-insured vessels from transporting Russian LNG, oil, and gas.
- Revoke maritime insurance for ships carrying Russian fossil fuels, regardless of destination.
- Introduce secondary sanctions targeting companies and intermediaries enabling Russia’s fossil fuel trade.
Britain has the opportunity to match its military and diplomatic leadership with decisive economic action by finally closing the backdoors that still fund Putin’s war.
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