Russia says India has not said it will halt oil purchases

MOSCOW: The Kremlin said Tuesday it had not received any indication from India that it would stop buying Russian oil following the announcement of a trade deal with US President Donald Trump.

Trump said he had struck a deal to reduce tariffs on India and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to stop buying Russian oil over the war in Ukraine.

India’s purchases of Russian oil – discounted due to Western sanctions complicating logistics and cutting off markets – have surged since Russia launched its full-scale military offensive on Ukraine in February 2022.

Ukraine and its Western allies have been seeking to cut off the billions of dollars in revenue, a vital source of income for Russia’s stretched economy and its military.

“So far, we haven’t heard any statements from New Delhi on this matter,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP.

READ MORE: Trump’s tariff cut spells relief in India despite scant details

Trump said he was cutting levies on Indian goods to 18 percent. He had previously imposed 25 percent “reciprocal” tariffs on many products, plus an additional 25 percent for New Delhi’s purchases of Moscow’s oil.

While Modi thanked Trump for the “wonderful” phone call and the easing of tariffs, he made no reference to Trump’s assertion about halting oil purchases.

In 2024, Russia supplied nearly 36 percent of India’s total crude imports, around 1.8 million barrels of discounted oil per day.

But after Trump hit New Delhi with tariffs, India’s monthly oil imports from Russia plunged by 38 percent, local media reported, citing India’s Ministry of Commerce and Industry’s data. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin promised “uninterrupted shipments” of oil during a visit to New Delhi in late 2025.

Bilateral trade between the two sides reached $68.7 billion in 2024-25 – almost six times higher than the pre-pandemic levels – dominated by Moscow’s energy sales, with Indian exports to Russia accounting for under $5 billion.