NEW DELHI – US President Donald Trump, said today that he had “heard” that India might not be buying oil from Russia anymore. However, he did say that the claim was not confirmed. These comments came just days after he strongly criticized India’s decision to buy energy from Russia and the White House’s plan to impose 25% tariffs on all Indian exports to the US, coupled with an undisclosed “additional penalty” for continuing to deal with Moscow.
“I heard that India is no longer going to buy oil from Russia.” I heard it, but I’m not sure if it’s true. That’s a nice thing to do. “We’ll see what happens,” Donald Trump told reporters on Saturday.
The President’s comments come after he blasted India on Truth Social for having what he called the “world’s highest tariffs” and “obnoxious” trade restrictions. At the same time, he criticized India for continuing to buy Russian military equipment and energy while the situation in Ukraine was still going on.
India is the world’s third-largest oil importer, and it has become the biggest consumer of Russian crude oil that comes by sea. This is a very important source of income for Moscow. Reuters, a news agency, reported on Friday that India’s state refiners have not bought Russian oil from the spot market in the previous week. This change may have been caused by discounts getting smaller and Trump’s warnings. But private refiners with long-term contracts, like Reliance Industries and Nayara Energy, may still buy.
India’s Position on Trump’s Threat of Tariffs and Relations with Russia
On Friday, Randhir Jaiswal, a spokesperson for the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), strongly defended India’s purchase of energy and defense equipment from Russia. He stressed that New Delhi and Moscow have a “steady and time-tested partnership.”
Jaiswal answered a lot of concerns about Trump’s tariff strategy by saying what India has always said: “India and the US have a strong global strategic partnership based on shared interests, democratic values, and strong ties between people.” This collaboration has been through a lot of changes and problems.
He also said, “We are still focused on the substantive agenda that our two countries have agreed to, and we are sure that the relationship will keep moving forward.” Jaiswal also talked about how the “strong defense partnership” with the US could get even stronger. He said that India’s relationship with Washington has already overcome problems in the past and that New Delhi was still determined to making it better.
After the conflict in Ukraine, India’s purchases of crude oil from Russia skyrocketed, going from a tiny 0.2% to about 35–40% of its total crude imports in 2024–25. This made Russia India’s biggest supplier. India has always said that its decisions about buying energy and defense are based on national security needs, strategic judgments, and market conditions, and not on pressure from any other country.