Russia’s oil and diesel exports to China and Brazil, respectively, which had already increased since the start of the war in Ukraine in February 2022, grew significantly again in January.
According to statistics from financial market data platform LSEG, published by Reuters, China purchased more than 1.5 million barrels of Russian oil by sea last month, having imported 1.1 million barrels per day in December.
According to consultancy Kpler, much of this increase was driven by a record 405,000 barrels imported per day of Urals oil (Russia’s main export mix, composed of heavy oil from the Urals/Volga regions and light oil from Siberia), the highest level since 2023.
Last Wednesday (4), dictators Vladimir Putin and Xi Jinping spoke via videoconference and the Russian leader described the energy partnership between Russia and China as “strategic”: the Chinese have purchased more than US$230 billion in Russian oil and gas since the beginning of the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine, generating ethical questions about the financing of Russian aggression in the neighboring country.
Brazil was also questioned in this regard, as in 2024 it was the second largest importer of diesel from Russia.
Data from the Vortexa platform, published by the Bloomberg Línea agency, showed that Brazilian imports of the Russian product fell in the second half of 2025, due to Ukraine’s attacks on refineries in Vladimir Putin’s country, which disrupted production.
However, last month, Brazilian purchases grew again and averaged 151 thousand barrels per day, the highest volume since June last year and a significant increase over the approximately 58 thousand barrels per day in December.
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Pressure from Trump caused Russian oil to lose markets
Putin breathes a sigh of relief given this growth, as Russian oil is losing other markets due to pressure from United States President Donald Trump for countries to stop buying energy from Russia, as a way of forcing Moscow to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine.
According to LSEG data released by Reuters, India, which last year was taxed 25% by Trump for buying Russian oil (adding the 25% it already paid for “reciprocal tariffs”, Indian exports to the US were surcharged by 50%), reduced its purchases of Russian Urals oil by sea to less than 1 million barrels per day in December, compared to an average of 1.3 million barrels per day last year.
Turkey reduced imports of Urals oil in January to around 250,000 barrels per day, below the average of 275,000 barrels per day in 2025 and the record of 400,000 barrels per day reached in June last year.
Last week, Trump announced that India has agreed to stop buying Russian oil and in exchange American tariffs on Indian products will be reduced from 50% to 18%, with the elimination of the 25% on oil imports from Russia and a reduction in the “reciprocal tariff”.
Cheaper Russian diesel attracts buyers from Brazil
In an interview with People’s GazetteAdriana Melo, an expert in finance and taxation, said that the increase in imports from China and Brazil of Russian oil and diesel, respectively, has ideological contours, but the main reason is “economic and operational”, since since 2022 Russia has started to offer aggressive discounts after losing part of the European market.
“In the case of China, there is a strategic component of energy security and diversification, but the decision is pragmatic: it buys the barrel that improves margin and supply. It buys to help itself (price and logistics), although the side effect is to sustain Russian revenue,” said Melo.
“In Brazil, the factor is even more prosaic: cheap diesel, available and at the right time. In January, imports of Russian diesel once again gained ground due to competitiveness compared to other sources, including the United States. Remembering that ideology does not move trucks, but diesel does,” said the expert.
Melo pointed out that, as with India, countries that continue to be major buyers of Russian energy are threatened with new tariffs from the United States, such as the 100% secondary tariffs on imports from Russia that Trump threatened to apply in 2025.
“For China, the exposure is greater because it is already at the center of commercial and technological disputes, and energy can be included in the package. For Brazil, the risk is smaller, but it is not zero: it is more likely to be used as pressure and signaling than as an immediate maximum punishment, because there is a political and economic cost in escalating against a relevant partner”, pondered the expert.
