After Western countries stopped buying Russian oil following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, India became the largest buyer of Russian crude. (AP Photo)
India is free to buy oil from any country and its decision to diversify crude suppliers is not new, the Kremlin reportedly said Wednesday, responding to claims by US President Donald Trumpthat Prime Minister Narendra Modi had “agreed to stop buying Russian oil”.
“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,” news agency PTI quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying.
Peskov was responding to Trump’s claim that Modi had agreed to shift oil purchases from Russia to the United States and possibly Venezuela. A day earlier, Peskov said Russia had not received any statements from India on stopping purchases of Russian oil.
Kommersant FM reported that, unlike Trump, Modi did not refer to any agreement on ending Russian oil imports.
‘Refiners cannot fully replace Russian crude’
Indian refiners cannot fully stop importing Russian crude, said Igor Yushkov, an expert at the National Energy Security Fund told PTI. He said US shale oil exports consist of light grades, while Russia supplies Urals crude, which differs in composition, requiring blending with other grades and increasing costs.
“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.
Yushkov recalled that when Russia redirected oil exports to India from European and American markets in 2022, it cut production by 1 million barrels a day, pushing prices to USD 120 a barrel and leading to record fuel prices in the US.
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Imports, tariffs and recent trends
Last year, Trump imposed 50 per cent tariffs on India, including 25 per cent levies linked to India’s purchases of Russian energy.
India imports about 88 per cent of its crude oil. Russian oil accounted for about 0.2 per cent of India’s crude imports until 2021. After Western countries stopped buying Russian oil following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, India became the largest buyer of Russian crude.
India’s imports of Russian crude fell to around 1.1 million barrels a day in the first three weeks of January, from 1.21 million bpd in the previous month and more than 2 million bpd in mid-2025, according to data from real-time analytics company Kpler.
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