US Pressure Unlikely To Move Putin: Why India’s Oil Trade Won’t End Russia’s War In Ukraine | World News

New Delhi: As the United States tightened the trade pressure over India after the Ukrainian War, speculation is increasing that cutting Russian oil sales to the new Delhi cannot push President Vladimir Putin into peace. But the facts on the ground tell a different story.

One day after Washington brought a 50% sharp tariff to Indian exports, President Trump’s senior trade adviser Peter Navarro claimed that India’s oil trade with Russia indirectly fueled the war. Bloomberg told TV, “The road to peace is at least passing through the New Delhi,” he said.

He argued that the profit obtained from the oil sold by Indian refiners helped Moscow to finance his military campaign in Ukraine in partnership with Russian suppliers.

India pushed back strongly. The Indian officials, who called the US justification as “amazing ,, confirmed the country’s energy policy again. “We said that our target is energy security of 1.4 billion India,” he said to TASS, the Russian news agency, the Ambassador of Moscow, India.

The tariff hike is seen as a “economic leverage” tool designed by Washington to isolate Russia. US Vice President JD Vance said that the decision to target India is part of President Donald Trump’s strategy of making Moscow’s “rich in oil economies”.

This approach received criticism in New Delhi. Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar said tariffs are “unfair ve and pointed out Washington’s past support as a stabilizing force in global markets.

“I am very confused, Ja Jaishankar said, emphasizing that the examination similar to China, the largest importer of Russian oil or the Great European LNG buyers.

It imports more than 85% of Indian oil. Russian crude oil, which is usually sold at discounted prices, plays a vital role in keeping energy bills manageable.

Analysts say that new Delhi’s possibility of scaling purchases is low. Nandan Unnikrishnan, a senior member of the Observer Research Foundation, said, “India, Russia, the stopping of cheap oil from Russia needs to decide whether the American tariffs need to be worth the stroke,” he said.

The data obtained from the Energy and Clean Air Research Center show that China has been 47% of Russia’s raw exports since 2022 and that India has received 38%.

Other buyers include Türkiye and the European Union. Europe has been the largest market for refined products and LNG.

Considering these figures, any stopping in Indian imports does not cut Moscow from global income flows. There is no possibility of softening Russia under economic pressure. “From the Russian point of view, they are fighting with an existential threat. Putin can really accept a ceasefire, but only if it is suitable for Russia’s interests.

Despite the three -year war and Western sanctions that have reduced its economy, Russia continues to progress on the battlefield. Ukraine faces growing manpower and distress of ammunition. This military advantage, especially if alternative markets continue to absorb oil, provides less encouragement to compromise to Moscow.

In the hazelnut shell, tariffs can force India-US trade ties, but the probability of changing the course of the war in Ukraine or changing the accounts in the Kremlin is low.