- India buys Russian oil at a discounted price.
- US tariffs reduce India's Russian oil purchases by 38%.
- Modi does not say that the United States is asking for oil purchases to stop.
The Kremlin said on Tuesday it had received no indication from India that it would stop buying Russian oil following the announcement of a trade deal with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said he had reached a deal to reduce tariffs on India and that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised to stop buying Russian oil over the war in Ukraine.
India's purchases of Russian oil (discounted due to Western sanctions that complicate logistics and cut off markets) have increased since Russia launched its large-scale military offensive against Ukraine in February 2022.
Ukraine and its Western allies have been trying to cut billions of dollars in revenue, a vital source of income for Russia's economy and its military.
“So far we have not heard any statement from New Delhi on this matter,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters, including AFP.
Trump said he was going to reduce taxes on Indian products to 18%. It had previously imposed “reciprocal” tariffs of 25% on many products, plus an additional 25% for New Delhi's purchases of Moscow oil.
While Modi thanked Trump for the “wonderful” phone call and the easing of tariffs, he made no reference to Trump's statement about suspending oil purchases.
In 2024, Russia supplied almost 36% of India's total crude oil imports, around 1.8 million barrels of discounted oil per day.
But after Trump hit New Delhi with tariffs, India's monthly oil imports from Russia plummeted 38%, local media reported, citing data from India's Ministry of Commerce and Industry.
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised “uninterrupted shipments” of oil during a visit to New Delhi in late 2025.
Bilateral trade between the two sides reached $68.7 billion in 2024-25 (nearly six times pre-pandemic levels), dominated by Moscow's energy sales, with Indian exports to Russia accounting for less than $5 billion.
