ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE: US President Donald Trump affirmed on Sunday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him India would cease its purchases of Russian oil. He concurrently cautioned that New Delhi would face significant tariffs if it failed to do so.
“I spoke with Prime Minister Modi of India, and he said he’s not going to be doing the Russian oil thing,” President Trump informed reporters while traveling on Air Force One.
When questioned about India’s statement that it had no record of any recent conversation between the two leaders, Trump responded, “But if they want to say that, then they’ll just continue to pay massive tariffs, and they don’t want to do that.”
Indian acquisitions of Russian oil have been a persistent point of contention for Trump in ongoing trade negotiations. He has stated that half of the 50% tariffs imposed on certain Indian goods are a direct retaliation for these oil purchases. The US government’s position is that petroleum revenues help finance Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Since Western nations imposed sanctions on Moscow following its 2022 invasion of Ukraine, India has emerged as the largest buyer of seaborne Russian crude, which is often sold at a discounted price.
Earlier on Wednesday, Trump had made a similar claim about receiving assurances from Modi that same day. In response, India’s foreign ministry stated it was unaware of any telephone conversation having taken place but reiterated that New Delhi’s primary focus was to “safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer.”
A White House official indicated on Thursday that India had already reduced its Russian oil imports by half. However, Indian sources familiar with the matter reported no immediate reduction had been observed.
According to these sources, Indian refiners have already finalized orders for November loading, with some cargoes scheduled to arrive in December. Consequently, any potential decrease in imports would likely only become apparent in the data for December or January.
Contrary to the discussion of reductions, estimates from the commodities data firm Kpler project that India’s imports of Russian oil are set to increase by approximately 20% this month, reaching 1.9 million barrels per day. This surge is attributed to Russia boosting its exports after Ukrainian drone attacks targeted its refineries.
