Moscow refutes Trump’s claim on PM Modi ending Russian oil imports

Russia refuted US President Donald Trump’s assertion that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to stop buying oil from Moscow in the wake of New Delhi’s trade deal with Washington. Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that her country has no reason to believe that India would make such a decision.

The development comes days after Trump announced that under the India-US trade deal, his government would lower the reciprocal tariffs imposed on Indian goods from 50 per cent to 18 per cent, adding that PM Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian oil. Despite confirming the reduction in US tariffs, the Centre is yet to make any remarks with regard to the issue of Russian oil imports.

Russia on ‘Indian friends’ approach

Speaking to reporters, Zakharova further stated that Trump was trying to dictate the actions of an independent country like India, adding that Russia did not believe that its “Indian friends” would resort to any such actions.

Also Read: 'India-US trade deal is a historic abdication of India’s sovereignty”

“The US President trying to dictate who an independent nation like India can trade with is not new. Russia has no reason to believe our Indian friends have changed their approach,” said Zakharova.

"We remain convinced that India's purchase of Russian hydrocarbons is beneficial to both countries and contributes to maintaining stability in the international energy market. We are ready to continue close cooperation in this area with our partners in India," she added.

India can buy oil from any country

Meanwhile, Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Wednesday (February 4) said that India is free to buy oil from any country, and there is nothing new about its decision to diversify its crude suppliers.

Also Read: India-US trade deal raises key questions of diplomacy

"We, along with all other international energy experts, are well aware that Russia is not the only supplier of oil and petroleum products to India. India has always purchased these products from other countries. Therefore, we see nothing new here," Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said while responding to a question.

He was asked about US President Donald Trump's claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and switch to purchasing crude from the United States and, potentially, from Venezuela.

‘No such statements received from India’

A day earlier, Peskov said that Russia has not received any statements from India regarding the cessation of Russian oil purchases.

Private Kommersant FM business radio noted that, unlike President Trump, PM Modi did not mention any agreement on stopping Russian oil imports.

Also Read: India committed to 'no longer' purchasing Russian oil: White House

Igor Yushkov, a leading expert at the National Energy Security Fund, said that Indian refiners cannot fully stop the import of Russian crude.

"The American shale oil they export is light grades, similar to gas condensate. Russia, on the other hand, supplies relatively heavy, sulfur-rich Urals. This means India will need to blend US crude with other grades, which incurs additional costs, meaning a simple substitution won't be possible," he said.

"Russia typically exports 1.5 million to 2 million barrels per day to the country. America won't be able to cover that volume. So, one gets the sense that Trump is simply trying to show that he won these trade negotiations and the deal was concluded entirely in line with US demands," he said.

The backdrop

India buys about 88 per cent of its crude oil, which is converted into fuels like petrol and diesel, from overseas.

Russian oil made up hardly 0.2 per cent of all crude oil that India imported till 2021. India, the world's third-largest oil importer, became the largest buyer of discounted Russian crude after Western countries shunned Moscow following its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

India's import of Russian crude oil dropped to around 1.1 million barrels per day in the first three weeks of January, from an average of 1.21 million bpd in the previous month and over 2 million bpd imports in mid-2025, according to data from real-time analytics company Kpler.

(With agency inputs)