India is free to buy oil from any country, the Kremlin said on Wednesday, responding to claims by US President Donald Trump that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop purchasing Russian crude and shift to buying oil from the United States and Venezuela. Russia said there was nothing new or surprising about India diversifying its oil suppliers and stressed that energy cooperation between Moscow and New Delhi remains strong.
The statement came days after President Trump announced a new India–US trade deal and claimed that India would reduce or end its oil imports from Russia. Russian officials said they have not received any such communication from the Indian government and that India has always sourced oil from multiple countries based on price, quality, and national interest.
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said Russia is not the only supplier of crude oil to India and never has been. He explained that India has long purchased oil and petroleum products from many countries across the world. According to him, India’s efforts to diversify its energy sources are well known and not a recent development.
Peskov also said that Russia has not received any official statement from India indicating that it plans to stop buying Russian oil. He added that claims made by foreign leaders do not automatically reflect India’s actual policy decisions. In his view, nothing has changed in the energy relationship between Russia and India so far.
Earlier this week, President Trump announced that the United States had reached a trade deal with India, reducing tariffs on Indian goods to 18 per cent. After speaking with Prime Minister Modi by phone, Trump claimed that India had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and instead purchase more crude from the US and possibly from Venezuela. However, Indian officials have not publicly confirmed any such agreement.
Russian media also pointed out that while Trump spoke openly about oil during his announcement, Prime Minister Modi did not mention any plan to halt Russian oil imports. This difference in public messaging has raised questions about whether Trump’s statements were meant more for domestic political messaging rather than reflecting a firm policy shift by India.
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Russia’s Foreign Ministry also responded strongly, saying that the trade in hydrocarbons benefits both countries. Spokesperson Maria Zakharova said India’s purchase of Russian oil helps maintain stability in the global energy market and supports economic cooperation between the two nations. She added that Russia is ready to continue close energy cooperation with India in the future.
Energy experts say it would be very difficult for India to completely replace Russian oil with American crude. Igor Yushkov, an expert from the National Energy Security Fund, explained that US shale oil is mostly light-grade crude, which is very different from the heavier and sulfur-rich Urals crude supplied by Russia. Indian refineries are designed to process a mix of crude types, and Russian oil plays an important role in that balance.
Yushkov said that blending US oil with other grades would increase costs for Indian refiners. Because of these technical and financial reasons, a simple one-to-one replacement of Russian oil with American oil is not practical. He also noted that Russia currently exports between 1.5 million and 2 million barrels of oil per day to India, a volume that the United States is unlikely to fully match.
According to him, Trump’s comments may be aimed at showing political success in trade negotiations rather than reflecting what India can realistically do. He also recalled that when Russia shifted its oil exports away from Europe and the US toward India in 2022, it reduced production by about one million barrels per day. That move pushed global oil prices close to 120 dollars per barrel and caused fuel prices in the US to hit record highs.
India’s dependence on imported oil is another key factor. The country meets nearly 88 per cent of its crude oil needs through imports. These imports are refined into fuels such as petrol, diesel, and aviation fuel that keep India’s economy running. Because energy security is so important, India usually chooses suppliers based on affordability and reliability rather than political pressure.
Before 2022, Russian oil made up only a very small share of India’s total crude imports, around 0.2 per cent. However, after Western sanctions were imposed on Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine, Russia began offering crude at discounted prices. India, as the world’s third-largest oil importer, became the biggest buyer of this discounted Russian oil.
Recent data shows that India’s imports of Russian crude have slightly declined. In the first three weeks of January, imports averaged about 1.1 million barrels per day, down from around 1.21 million barrels per day in the previous month. This is also lower than the more than 2 million barrels per day seen in mid-2025. Analysts say such fluctuations are normal and often driven by price changes, shipping issues, or refinery maintenance schedules.
Overall, Russia’s message is clear: India will decide its energy policy based on its own interests. While India continues to strengthen trade ties with the United States, it is unlikely to abruptly end oil purchases from Russia. For now, energy experts believe India will continue to buy oil from multiple countries, balancing cost, supply security, and technical needs rather than making sudden shifts under external pressure.
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