United States President Donald Trump announced on 15 October that he had received assurances from Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India would cease its purchases of Russian oil. Speaking at the White House, President Trump characterised the alleged commitment as a “big step” in the effort to isolate Moscow financially over the war in Ukraine. The US leader, who called Mr Modi “a great man” and a friend, stated that the process for India to stop the flows of Russian oil would take some time but would be “over with soon.”
President Trump’s claim follows previous pressure from his administration, which included the imposition of 50 per cent tariffs on Indian imports, with the explicit aim of discouraging New Delhi’s substantial crude purchases from Russia. The US President had previously threatened secondary sanctions against Moscow’s trading partners should Russia fail to make progress towards a ceasefire in the ongoing conflict. Trump further suggested that India’s decision would make it “much easier” to broker a peace settlement between Kyiv and Moscow, although he did not provide a definitive timeline for the promised cessation of imports.
India is one of the world’s largest consumers of Russian oil, a crucial revenue stream for the Kremlin’s war effort, and had previously maintained that it would not cut its imports despite facing heavy US tariffs.
The US President also indicated that following the purported agreement with India, his administration would next focus on persuading China to take a similar step and halt its purchases of Russian oil.Earlier reports had suggested that Indian officials were willing to curb Russian oil imports, but only if the lost trade could be offset by purchasing sanctioned Iranian and Venezuelan oil.
While acknowledging that India cannot “immediately” halt the shipments, President Trump reiterated that the move was a major diplomatic achievement and a key step in his administration’s goal of economically pressuring Russia. The dispute over Russian oil purchases had previously strained relations between the two leaders, though President Trump emphasized his “great relationship” with the Indian Prime Minister.
