Russia Says India Free to Buy Oil Anywhere, Pushes Back on Trump’s Claim of Supply Shift
Russia on Wednesday made it clear that India is fully sovereign in deciding where it sources its crude oil, responding to US President Donald Trump’s recent claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and instead turn to the United States and possibly Venezuela.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov rejected the suggestion that a change in India’s oil sourcing would be unusual. Addressing a press conference, he said Russia has never been India’s sole energy partner. “Like all international energy experts, we know very well that Russia is not the only supplier of oil and petroleum products to India,” Peskov said. “India has always purchased energy from multiple countries. There is nothing new or extraordinary about this.”
Peskov also noted that Moscow has received no official communication from New Delhi indicating that India plans to halt purchases of Russian crude. He reiterated that point a day earlier as well, stressing that no such signal has come from the Indian side.
India’s Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal recently stated that New Delhi is expanding its energy mix to adapt to changing global conditions and ensure long-term energy security for its citizens. Against this backdrop, Russian officials underlined that cooperation between the two countries remains intact.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova echoed this position, saying the hydrocarbons trade benefits both sides. “India’s purchase of Russian hydrocarbons is mutually advantageous and contributes to stability in the global energy market,” she said at a briefing. “We are ready to continue close cooperation with our Indian partners.”
‘Replacing Russian Oil Is Not Practical’
Energy analysts in Russia have also questioned the feasibility of India fully replacing Russian crude. Igor Yushkov of the National Energy Security Fund explained that US shale exports are largely light-grade crude, while Indian refineries are designed to process Russia’s heavier, sulphur-rich Urals blend.
“Indian refiners would have to blend US oil with other grades, which would increase costs,” Yushkov said. “This is not a simple switch.”
He added that Russia typically supplies India with 1.5 to 2 million barrels of oil per day, a volume that would be difficult for the US to match in the near term. According to Yushkov, Trump’s statements appear aimed at portraying the talks as a clear win on American terms.
Yushkov also recalled that when Russia redirected oil supplies from Europe and the US to Asia in 2022, it cut production by about one million barrels per day, pushing global prices close to $120 per barrel and driving petrol and diesel prices in the US to record highs.
Tariffs, Trade, and Energy Politics
Last year, Trump imposed steep tariffs on India over its purchase of Russian energy, with the White House arguing that such imports were indirectly financing Russia’s war in Ukraine. More recently, however, Trump announced a trade deal under which tariffs on Indian imports were slashed from 50 percent to 18 percent, with immediate effect.
India imports roughly 88 percent of the crude oil needed to produce fuels such as petrol and diesel. Until 2021, Russian oil accounted for just 0.2 percent of India’s imports. That changed dramatically after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, when Western countries distanced themselves from Moscow and India emerged as the largest buyer of discounted Russian crude.
Data from real-time analytics firm Kpler shows that in the first three weeks of January, India’s imports of Russian oil fell to about 1.1 million barrels per day, down from an average of 1.21 million bpd last month and well below the 2 million bpd levels seen in mid-2025.
Despite the recent dip, Moscow continues to underline the strategic value of the energy partnership. Zakharova reiterated that hydrocarbons trade between India and Russia supports both economies and helps stabilise global markets.
For now, the balance lies with New Delhi—navigating its expanding trade engagement with the United States while maintaining long-standing and commercially vital energy ties with Russia.