India will continue to purchase cheap Russian oil despite threats of sanctions from U.S. President Donald Trump, Indian officials said on Saturday, in the latest development in a matter New Delhi believed had been settled, according to The New York Times. President Trump said last week that he would penalise India if it did not stop buying Russian oil, without specifying the nature of the potential punishment. On Friday, he pointed to reports that Russian shipments to India had decreased, telling reporters: "I understand that India is no longer buying oil from Russia… that's what I heard. I don't know if that's correct, but it's a good step. We'll see what happens." Reuters reported earlier that India's state-run refiners had halted purchases of Russian oil a week ago as discounts shrank in July. On 14 July, Trump threatened to impose 100% tariffs on countries buying Russian oil unless Moscow reached a major peace agreement with Ukraine. The New York Times quoted two senior Indian government officials as saying that "there has been no change in oil policy". One of the officials clarified that the government "has not issued any directives to oil companies to stop or reduce their imports from Russia". During a press conference a day earlier, India's Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson, Randhir Jaiswal, declined to comment directly on Trump's threat but hinted that the country would stick to its position on Moscow. "Our bilateral relations with various countries stand on their own footing and should not be viewed from the perspective of a third country," Jaiswal said. "India and Russia have a stable and time-tested partnership." Since the war in Ukraine began, India has significantly increased its imports of Russian oil. Russia is now India's top supplier, providing about 35% of its total supplies, up from less than 1% before the conflict. New Delhi imports more than two million barrels of crude oil per day from Russia, making it the second-largest buyer of Russian oil after China. Officials and analysts suggest that Trump's focus on the issue may be a "negotiating chip" in the context of ongoing talks between India and the United States to reach a bilateral trade agreement, which is in its early stages. It is noted that China and Turkey, also major importers of Russian oil, have not faced similar threats from Washington. India came under significant pressure during the initial months of the war in Ukraine to scale back its economic ties with Moscow, and this pressure continued as its oil imports grew. However, as the war entered its second year, the international stance on India's oil imports began to shift. New Delhi appeared to have successfully convinced its American and European allies that its large-scale purchases of cheap Russian oil, under a price cap imposed by the G7 and the European Union, were in fact helping to maintain global energy price stability. Early last year, senior U.S. Treasury officials visiting New Delhi stated that India was implementing a mechanism that had proven effective: keeping Russian oil flowing to global markets but at lower prices that reduced Moscow's revenues. Eric Garcetti, who was then the U.S. Ambassador to India, said: "They bought Russian oil because we wanted someone to buy it at a specific price cap. It wasn't a breach; it was part of the policy design because we were afraid of oil prices going up, and they did their required part."
