Ireland is under mounting pressure over its continued exports of alumina to Russia, a trade that remains legal under European Union sanctions but has sparked accusations of indirectly fueling Moscow's war in Ukraine. The timing is particularly awkward for Dublin, which is less than a month away from assuming the rotating presidency of the EU Council.
Alumina, a white powder, is the precursor to aluminium—a metal essential for manufacturing weapons and ammunition used on battlefields. Investigative reports by the Organised Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP) traced alumina from the Aughinish Alumina refinery in County Limerick to Russian smelters owned by its parent company, United Company Rusal. From there, the metal reaches a trader that supplies sanctioned defence manufacturers, whose weapons have been deployed against Ukrainian civilians and infrastructure.
EU High Representative Kaja Kallas intends to confront Taoiseach Micheál Martin over the matter during a meeting in Dublin on Tuesday. “We should be more creative in finding ways how we can actually stop this war,” Kallas said on Monday at a ministerial gathering in Cyprus. “(If) some of us still benefit from trading with Russia at the same time, when it is actually making it easier for them to fund this war, then this war will never stop. Wars also end when aggressors run out of money.”
Legal but Controversial Trade
Aughinish Alumina, Europe’s largest alumina refinery, insists its operations are fully compliant with EU sanctions, which exempt alumina from restrictions. Exports of primary aluminium and refined aluminium goods to Russia are banned, but alumina is not. The company disclosed that alumina sales to Russia accounted for roughly 45% of its total sales in 2025, with a similar share expected for 2026. A “clerical error” inflated the figure to 83% for the first quarter of this year, it said.
The Irish government has launched an investigation into the allegations. Taoiseach Micheál Martin has defended the plant, describing it as a key link in a “wider European supply chain” connected to facilities in Sweden and France. He warned that imposing sanctions on alumina could drive up inflation and threaten 1,000 direct jobs. “The whole principle of sanctions is we don't damage ourselves more than Russia, or that they don't become self-defeating,” Martin said in late May. “It would appear to me now, Aughinish falls into that category.”
Confidential documents obtained by RTÉ News revealed that the plant lobbied the Irish government to deter sanctions, even raising the prospect of nationalisation. The Ukrainian embassy in Dublin expressed “serious concern,” listing Russian weapons containing aluminium—including ballistic missiles, hypersonic missiles, and Shahed drones—that have been used in attacks on Ukrainian cities. The embassy acknowledged the importance of protecting jobs and industrial competitiveness but stressed that “Russia's continued war of aggression requires constant vigilance to ensure that commercial activities do not directly or indirectly contribute to sustaining the military capabilities of a state engaged in a brutal and unprovoked war against a sovereign European nation.”
In Brussels, the European Commission has trodden carefully. “We are, with every sanctions package, looking at ways that we can close loopholes,” a Commission spokesperson said on Monday. “We always appreciate the work of investigative journalists because they do play a fundamental part in what we do on looking at further (restrictive) measures, but I can't comment on the specific case at this time.” The executive is preparing its proposal for the 21st round of sanctions against Russia, and a group of 39 MEPs has called for an alumina ban to be included. Estonian Foreign Minister Margus Tsahkna also voiced support: “We must close every loophole and further weaken Russia’s war machine.”
The controversy comes as Moscow intensifies its large-scale strikes on Ukrainian cities, including a recent drone barrage that hit a residential area in Kharkiv. The EU's diplomatic efforts on Ukraine remain under scrutiny, with MEPs convening in Strasbourg to debate further measures. For Dublin, the alumina affair threatens to overshadow its EU presidency, raising questions about whether the bloc can effectively close loopholes that allow trade to continue with a country waging war on its neighbour.
