mm-news-@dmin US President Trump says Modi had assured India would stop buying oil from Russia
- Modi assured India will stop buying Russian oil: Trump.
- Russia remains India’s top source of oil imports.
- India says its main goal is to protect consumers.
Some Indian refiners are preparing to cut Russian oil imports, with expectations of a gradual reduction. Three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. The US is pressuring New Delhi to stop buying Russian crude to help end the war in Ukraine.
US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him. India will stop buying oil from Russia, its top source of imported oil.
India said on Thursday that the country’s two main goals were to ensure stable energy prices and secure supply.
“It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario. The foreign ministry said in a statement that it fully guided its import policies by this objective.
The statement did not refer to Trump’s comment about India’s purchases of Russian oil.
Trade-off against steep tariffs
Indian officials are in Washington for trade talks. The US has doubled tariffs on Indian goods to pressure New Delhi to reduce Russian oil imports. US negotiators have said curbing those purchases would be crucial to reducing India’s tariff rate and sealing a trade deal.
India and China are the two top buyers of Russian seaborne crude exports. Russia has been forced to accept discounted prices, which buyers have taken advantage of after European purchasers shunned its oil. The US and the European Union imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“So I was not happy that India was buying oil. And he (Modi) assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia,”. Trump told reporters during a White House event on Wednesday.
India’s foreign ministry said it was discussing deeper energy co-operation with the United States.
“The current Administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing,” foreign ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in the statement.
Indian refiners said they have not been formally told by the government about stopping Russian oil purchases, sources said. They declined to be named as they are not authorized to speak to the media.
The sources said it would be difficult to immediately stop buying Russian oil as a sudden switch to buying other crudes would drive up global oil prices and threaten to stoke inflation.
In April to September, the first six months of this fiscal year, India imported 1.75 million barrels per day of Russian crude, with its share declining to about 36% of India’s total oil imports from 40% in the same period a year earlier, government data showed.
India’s US crude imports rose 6.8% on year to about 213,000 bpd, making up 4.3% of imports.
The share of Middle Eastern oil in the six months to September 2025 rose to 45% from 42%, the data showed.
