'India cannot stop buying Russian oil overnight', says Rubio as Trump reviews sanctions

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Saturday (October 17) that India could not stop buying Russian energy overnight, as President Donald Trump sets aside 60 days to assess the economic impact of sanctions on Russia and tariffs on countries buying its oil.

‘Sanctions not just on Russia’

"The problem is that these sanctions were not just sanctions on Russia. They include tariffs on a number of countries, India, for example, and others. And so I think the president wants to take the 60-day period of time to sort of analyse what imposing both sanctions and tariffs will mean to the global economy and even to the US economy," Rubio said as quoted by NDTV.

Also Read: Trump’s Russia energy pivot raises questions for India and oil markets

Trump on Friday (October 16) waived sanctions and tariffs under the 'Lindsey O Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act', citing national interest. The law is named after Republican senator Lindsey Graham, who died on July 11. It gave Trump the power to impose sanctions on Moscow and tariffs of up to 100 per cent on goods from the five largest buyers of Russian oil or natural gas, including India and China.

Waiver allows review of energy market pressures

Rubio said the waiver period lets the administration weigh the effects against other developments in energy supplies, including the US-Iran war, Houthi attacks on Saudi Arabia, and the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

"I think when the bill was passed, one of the reasons the waivers were put in there is understanding that they would need some period of time to study this, given all the different things that are going on in the world right now," Rubio said.

‘India cannot switch energy suppliers overnight’

He said India had diversified its energy sources but kept buying Russian oil because suppliers cannot be switched immediately.

"That's having an impact on global prices as well. So, I think you have to take all of that into account and weigh it against each other. And then you've got countries like India, for example, that have voluntarily diversified their energy portfolio but are still getting a substantial amount of energy from Russia because it's hard to pivot from one day to the next. But they're also an important ally and partner of the United States. So the president, we need that period of time to sort of study all this and figure out what the right combination is," Rubio said.

Also Read: Trump waives sanctions, tariffs on purchase of Russian oil and gas

Trump's waiver came days after he announced that the US would import diesel from Russia to bring down domestic fuel prices before the November midterm elections.