According to the President's Export Council, since 1993, the US has imposed more than 40 economic sanctions on 36 countries.

US imposed economic sanctions on Russia for its Ukraine invasion on 24 February which is hurting the  Europeans badly because they need Russian oil, gas and wheat. Although US is the biggest producer of oil in the world, it has to imports about 10% of its requirement. Russia is the 2^nd biggest oil producer in the world and it exports about 40% of its oil production.  

As a result of the sanctions, China and India have benefited. They can buy oil and gas at cheaper prices from Russia. In fact, they have increased their purchase contracts with Russia.

Due to the sanction, gas price has shot to record high as shown on the chart above. 

How dependent is Europe on Russian gas?

The European Union imported 155 bcm of Russian gas in 2021, consisting in 142 bcm of pipeline gas and 14 bcm of LNG. The EU depends on Russian gas for 45 percent of its imports and around 40 percent of its consumption.

Russian oil and gas come from 2 under sea pipelines, namely Nord Stream 1 and Nord Stream 2 to Europe as shown below. The length of the pipelines is 1,222 km (759 mi).

According to Gazprom, the costs of the onshore pipelines in Russia and Germany were around €6 billion. The offshore section of the project cost €8.8 billion.

Russia wheat production:

In 2021/22 Russia is estimated to have produced 75.5mt of wheat, although has produced in excess of 85mt in recent years. Exports are estimated to total around 35mt this season, which would leave Russia as the largest exporting country, holding almost 17% of global export supply.

Due to the sanction, wheat price has shot to record high as shown on the chart below. 

The US and NATO impose sanctions on Russia is counter productive.