• Source:JND
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US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia, and Trump said he would next 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 top buyers of Russian seaborne crude exports. Both nations are getting oil at discounted prices. Trump has recently targeted India for its Russian oil purchases, imposing tariffs on Indian exports to the US to discourage the country's crude buying as he seeks to pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.

“So I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he (Modi) assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia,” Trump told reporters during a White House event. "That’s a big step. Now we’re going to get China to do the same thing," he added. "He can't do it immediately. It's a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over soon," Trump claimed. 

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India is yet to confirm the authenticity of such a commitment made by the Indian leader to Trump.

“All we want from President Putin is to stop this, stop killing Ukrainians and stop killing Russians because he's killing a lot of Russians...The hatred of the two leaders (Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Vladimir Putin) is a lot, it's an obstacle...But I think we'll get them. If India doesn't buy oil, it makes it much easier...They will not be buying oil from Russia and they'll go back to Russia after the war is over,” Trump told reporters.

India-Russia oil trade

Russia is India's top oil supplier. Moscow exported 1.62 million barrels per day to India in September, roughly one-third of the country's oil imports. Trump wants to leverage bilateral relationships to enforce economic isolation on Russia, rather than relying solely on multilateral sanctions. The announcement comes just days after Trump’s new pick for Indian ambassador, Sergio Gor, met with PM Modi.

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The two discussed defence, trade and technology issues. The appointment of Gor, a close confidant to Trump, was widely seen as a positive move for the US-India bilateral relationship. During his comments to reporters, Trump added that India could not "immediately" halt shipments, calling it "a little bit of a process, but that process will be over soon."

India's Russian oil purchase continues despite Trump's threat 

Despite his push on India, Trump has largely avoided placing similar pressure on China. The US trade war with Beijing has complicated diplomatic efforts, with Trump reluctant to risk further escalation by demanding a halt to Chinese energy imports from Russia.

Trump imposed a 25 per cent tariff on India this summer after the two countries failed to reach an initial trade agreement. He followed up with an additional 25 per cent because of the country’s purchases of Russian oil.

India chafed at the move because no other top purchasers of Russian oil, like China or Turkey, were hit with similar tariffs.

(With inputs from Reuters and ANI)

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