The planned talks between US President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin mark the potential beginnings of a return of Russia – and its commodities – to the global arena following Moscow’s recent international isolation.
Prior to its invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Russia was a leading exporter of crude oil, natural gas, coal, aluminium, nickel, steel, wheat and fertilisers – among other commodities – and the top supplier of energy products to Europe. Since 2022, the sanctions imposed on Moscow by Western nations have sparked a major disruption to those commodity flows, with Russia’s pipelined gas exports falling by half and its oil shipments undergoing lengthy diversions to new markets.
Below is a breakdown of where Russia ranks in terms of global production and exports of some of the world’s most widely-traded commodities to provide a guide on potential market impacts should global relations with Russia return to normal.
Gas crunch
Natural gas has arguably been the most impacted commodity from the fallout of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Russia is the world’s second-largest gas producer and exporter, but endured heavy cuts to outbound shipments once Moscow was slapped with sanctions by Europe and the United States in 2022.
Many European nations – including key economy Germany – had previously secured a majority of their gas supplies from Russia, but rapidly pared imports via pipeline as part of efforts to punish Moscow for starting a war in the region.
Russia’s exported gas volumes via pipeline dropped by 38 per cent in 2022 from the previous year, and again by 30 per cent in 2023 from 2022’s total as European buyers switched to imported LNG and other fuels to replace those lost gas supplies.
In 2024, Russia’s pipeline exports totalled 108.2 billion cubic metres, or 46 per cent less than the 201.3 billion cubic metres exported in 2021, data from the Energy Institute shows.
To try to offset some of the lost revenue from pipelined gas, Russia boosted exports of liquefied natural gas.
Russian LNG export volumes have climbed by around 12 per cent since 2021 and hit an all-time high in 2024 of 44.3 billion cubic metres.
Given the lack of pipeline links to other regions, the slump in exports to Europe led to a surge in Russian gas inventories since 2022, which in turn sparked greater gas use by power firms and industry and ongoing efforts to boost LNG export capacity.
Russian natural gas production dropped to eight-year lows in 2023 as the industry curbed output in response to the export market collapse. It has since lifted production again to around 630 billion cubic metres in 2024.
Crude diversions
The crude oil market was also heavily impacted by the sanctions slapped on Moscow, as Russia is the world’s third-largest crude oil producer and exporter.
Similar to the gas market, Russian output and exports of crude oil have both taken a hit since 2022, although exports have declined by more than production as domestic stockpiles have been replenished.
In 2024, Russian crude oil output was estimated at 10.75 million barrels a day, down 4 per cent from output of 11.2 million bpd in 2022, Energy Institute data shows.
Russian oil exports in 2024 totalled just over 7 million bpd, which is down 8 per cent from the 7.6 million bpd exported in 2022.
In addition to undergoing steep declines, Russian crude oil exports also underwent significant changes in destinations, as traders were forced to find alternate homes for their barrels.
And similar to the gas market, exporters needed to replace Europe – which had previously been the top destination for Russian oil – with other markets. Fortunately for Russian oil traders, India has proved willing to endure pushback from the international community and rapidly expanded its Russian oil purchases just as Europe cut back.
Indeed, between 2022 and 2024 India’s imports of Russian crude oil more than doubled, from 321 million barrels in 2022 to 651 million barrels in 2024, data from commodities intelligence firm Kpler shows.
Europe’s imports of Russian crude dropped by 30 per cent over that same period from 821 million barrels in 2022 to 581 million barrels in 2024, which allowed India to emerge as the top market for Russian crude last year.
China is the second-largest Russian crude oil buyer, and bought 460 million barrels in 2024, up 17 per cent from 2022’s total.
Coal, metals & more
Coal markets have also been impacted in the aftermath of the Russia-Ukraine war, as Russia is the sixth-largest coal producer and third-largest coal exporter.
Because of a large domestic coal-fired power plant fleet, Russian coal mine production has been able to remain largely steady since 2022 as local power firms consumed additional supplies that had previously been sent for export.
In 2024, Russia’s coal production was around 2.3 per cent down from 2022’s total, while exports were down nearly 10 per cent.
Stiff competition from Indonesia and other coal producers has served to squeeze Russian coal from several international markets, while diminished import demand from China and India – the top two coal consumers – has also hit coal exports.
Russia is also a leading producer and exporter of several key metals, including aluminium, nickel, cobalt and palladium, which are all in high demand for a number of industrial and technological applications.
Russia is also a key producer of fertilisers, industrial gases, diamonds and crops such as wheat and barley, and so any rapid resumption in trade ties between Moscow and the international community stands to have far-reaching repercussions.
That said, any fresh deterioration in relations with Moscow following the upcoming talks could serve to keep Russia’s copious commodities out of reach for many buyers, which would tighten global markets as a result.
By Gavin Maguire
The opinions expressed here are those of the author, a columnist for Reuters.
Published on August 15, 2025