An exiled Russian oligarch says a European ban on Russian oil and gas would deal a 'very serious blow' to Putin, cutting off around half his revenues

If European countries stopped buying Russian oil and gas, it would be a big blow to President Putin, according to an exile who once headed up one of the country's former oil giants.

If Putin has to divert oil and gas exports from the European to the Asian markets, he will lose half of his revenue. According to preliminary figures from the country's finance ministry, oil and gas made up 34% of Russia's federal budget in 2011.

How long would he be able to continue the war under those circumstances? It is hard for me to say, but I think it would be a very serious blow.

The European Union, which gets about a third of its natural gas and oil from Russia, is finding it harder to cut ties despite the US President's pledge to ban Russian energy imports.

According to the International Energy Agency, Russia makes $700 million in daily revenue from exports of crude oil and refined products to the EU.

The West made a fatal mistake when it became reliant on Russian energy supplies.

According to the IEA, oil shipments from Russia to Europe continue as a result of agreements struck before the invasion of Ukraine, but new deals are drying up.

Concerns about shipping safety, insurance and sanctions are preventing buyers from buying Russian crude. The agency said that Asian oil importers are sticking to traditional suppliers in the Middle East, Latin America and Africa, despite the record discounts being offered for Urals crude from Russia.

Zelenskyy told the BBC that European countries were making money out of blood, and his top economic adviser has said the same.

It is preferable to make it impossible for Putin to pay for his aggression with the money from oil and gas exports. Is it possible today? Maybe.

Western nations have imposed sweeping sanctions on Russia in an attempt to cut off some of the Kremlin's financing and pressure Putin to call off his invasion of Ukraine. If Putin were open to economic arguments, he would not have started the war, according to the Chancellor.

Khodorkovsky was once Russia's richest person

Yukos was the largest oil company in Russia between 1997 and 2004. He was the richest person in Russia in 2003 with a net worth of 15 billion dollars.

In 2001, he founded Open Russia, an anti-Kremlin political organization that was shut down by the Russian authorities in 2006 because of its focus on democracy and human rights. In 2005 he was sentenced to nine years in prison for fraud and tax evasion.

He was pardoned by Putin and freed from prison a year early. He was exiled from Russia and now lives in London.