India to Continue Russian Oil Imports Despite Trump Remarks

US President Donald Trump claimed on Saturday he had heard India would no longer purchase Russian oil, calling it a “good step”, days after opening an unexpected salvo at New Delhi for its close trade and military ties with Moscow, foreign media said.

“Well, I understand India no longer is going to be buying oil from Russia. That’s what I heard. I don’t know if that’s right or not, but that’s a good step. We’ll see what happens,” Trump told reporters on Friday.

His remarks bear significance due to his threats of punitive measures against nations that purchase oil from Russia, which is seen as being crucial to Moscow’s war on Ukraine.

However, new reports on Saturday cited senior Indian officials as saying there had been no change in policy, with one stating the government had “not given any direction to oil companies” to cut back imports from Russia.

India has become one of Russia’s largest oil customers since Western sanctions drove down prices, helping Moscow maintain crucial export revenues whilst providing New Delhi with cheaper energy to fuel its growing economy.

Earlier in the week, Trump formalised 25% tariffs on Indian exports through an executive order covering around 70 nations, though the document notably omitted the additional “penalty” he had previously threatened over India’s Russian energy purchases – a measure that America could still take.

Ministry of external affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal, when asked at Friday’s weekly briefing about reports claiming Indian oil companies had stopped buying Russian oil, said: “As far as sourcing India’s energy requirements is concerned, we take decisions based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time.”

The US president has repeatedly criticised India’s energy ties with Russia whilst announcing punitive trade measures. Declaring a “massive trade deficit with India,” Trump argued that while “India is our friend, we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world.”

He described India as having “the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary Trade Barriers of any country,” while noting that “they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine.” New reports on Saturday stated India will keep purchasing oil from Russia despite Trump’s threats of penalties. Two Indian government sources told Reuters on Saturday, not wishing to be identified, that:

“These are long-term oil contracts. It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight.”

Russia is the leading supplier to India, the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer, accounting for about 35% of its overall supplies. India imported about 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian oil from January to June this year, up 1% from a year ago, according to data provided to Reuters by sources.

Justifying India’s oil purchases, a second government source said India’s imports of Russian grades had helped avoid a global surge in oil prices, which have remained subdued despite Western curbs on the Russian oil sector.

Unlike Iranian and Venezuelan oil, Russian crude is not subject to direct sanctions, and India is buying it below the current price cap fixed by the European Union, the source said. However, sources told Reuters this week that Indian state refiners stopped buying Russian oil after July discounts narrowed to their lowest since 2022—when sanctions were first imposed on Moscow—due to lower Russian exports and steady demand. Indian Oil Corp, Hindustan Petroleum Corp, Bharat Petroleum Corp and Mangalore Refinery Petrochemical Ltd have not sought Russian crude in the past week or so, four sources told Reuters.