India will keep purchasing oil from Russia, despite President Donald Trump threatening to impose penalties for doing so, two Indian officials said on Saturday
Officials in India, the most populous country on Earth, told Reuters and
That contradicted a statement from Trump, who on Friday told reporters his understanding was that India would “no longer” be buying oil from Russia.
“These are long-term oil contracts,” an unnamed Indian official told Reuters. “It is not so simple to just stop buying overnight.”
Last week, Trump said India would face unspecified penalties for buying Russian oil in addition to a 25 percent tariff on goods. However, China and Turkey, two countries that also purchase large amounts of Russian oil, have not faced similar penalty threats.
India drastically increased its import of Russian oil after the Kremlin invaded Ukraine in 2022, while many other countries began to cut back it’s imports. The cheap availability of Russian oil allowed India to reduce its reliance on other countries, such as Saudi Arabia or Iraq, who typically sell to Asian countries at a higher price.
While India faced criticisms for doing so, the general consensus around India’s increase in imports has been that it helps avoid a global surge in oil prices.
It’s unclear why exactly Trump has targeted India in reducing its import of Russian oil. The president has recently expressed frustrations with Russian President Vladimir Putin for failing to come to the peace talks table to negotiate a ceasefire in Ukraine.
On Friday, India’s external affairs spokesperson Randdhir Jaiswal said India and Russia had a “time-tested partnership” and that India was analyzing its energy sourcing.
“On our energy sourcing requirements … we look at what is there available in the markets, what is there on offer, and also what is the prevailing global situation or circumstances,” Jaiswal said, according to Reuters.
India heavily relies on energy imports to sustain the needs of it’s more than one billion population. It imports more than one million barrels per day.
