Trump says Modi has assured him India will not buy Russian oil
By Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to stop buying oil from Russia, and Trump said he would now try to get China to do the same as Washington intensifies efforts to cut off Moscow’s energy revenues.
India and China are the two biggest buyers of Russia’s seaborne crude oil exports, benefiting from discounted prices that Russia was forced to accept after European buyers refrained from purchases and the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Moscow over its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump recently targeted India for oil purchases from Russia; He imposed tariffs on India’s exports to the United States to cut Russia’s oil revenues and discourage the country’s purchases of crude oil to pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.
“So I wasn’t happy about India buying oil, and he assured me today that they wouldn’t buy oil from Russia,” Trump told reporters during an event at the White House.
“This is a big step. Now we will get China to do the same.”
The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to emailed questions about whether Modi had made such a commitment to Trump.
Russia is India’s largest oil supplier. Moscow exported 1.62 million barrels per day to India in September; This accounts for roughly one-third of the country’s oil imports. Modi resisted US pressure for months, with Indian officials arguing the purchases were vital to national energy security.
While imports from other producers will likely cost India more, lower oil prices may cushion the impact. Benchmark Brent crude oil futures fell to a five-month low on Wednesday on concerns about a growing glut in the market.
A move by India to halt imports could signal a major shift in one of Moscow’s biggest energy customers and reshape the calculations for other countries that still import Russian crude. Trump wants to leverage bilateral relations to impose economic isolation on Russia rather than relying solely on multilateral sanctions.
The announcement came just days after Sergio Gor, Trump’s new pick as ambassador to India, met with Modi. The two discussed defence, trade and technology issues. The appointment of Trump’s close confidant Gor was seen as a positive move for US-India bilateral relations.
In his statements to journalists, Trump stated that India could not stop the shipments “immediately” and stated that this was “a little bit of a process, but this process will end soon.”
Despite his pressure on India, Trump has largely refrained from applying similar pressure on China. The U.S. trade war with Beijing has complicated diplomatic efforts; Trump was reluctant to risk further escalating tensions by demanding a halt to China’s energy imports from Russia.
Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on India this summer after the two countries failed to reach an initial trade deal. It followed with an additional 25 percent due to the country’s purchase of Russian oil. India was upset by the move because none of the biggest buyers of Russian oil, such as China or Türkiye, were subject to similar tariffs.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington and Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia; Additional reporting by Tim Gardner and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Reese, Rami Ayyub and David Gregorio)
