Russia Reaffirms Bilateral Partnership With India Amid US Trade Deal Claims

The Kremlin on Tuesday said the India–Russia strategic partnership remains of critical importance, responding to remarks by US President Donald Trump that India would halt purchases of Russian crude as part of a trade deal with the United States.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Moscow had heard no such statement from India on stopping imports of Russian oil. India is the world’s third-largest importer and consumer of crude.

“Our strategic partnership with India is most important,” the Kremlin said.

“We respect bilateral U.S.-Indian relations,” Peskov told reporters. “But we attach no less importance to the development of an advanced strategic partnership between Russia and India. This is the most important thing for us, and we intend to further develop our bilateral relations with Delhi.”

Trump said in a social media post that India had agreed to buy $500 billion worth of US goods and stop importing Russian oil, presenting the move as part of a broader effort to strengthen economic ties with New Delhi.

The India–US agreement, announced overnight, will lower tariffs on Indian goods from 50 per cent to 18 per cent and aims to more than double bilateral trade to $500 billion by 2030.

India continues to be a major buyer of Russian seaborne crude. According to a Reuters report, data from trade sources show imports fell by about 22 per cent to 1.38 million barrels per day in December — the lowest level in two years — as tighter US and EU sanctions slowed Russian flows. Russia’s share of India’s oil imports declined to 27.4 per cent, while OPEC’s share rose to 53.2 per cent.

Despite the decline, Russia remained India’s largest oil supplier in December and during the first nine months of the 2025–26 financial year, followed by Iraq and Saudi Arabia. Nayara Energy, partly owned by Russia’s Rosneft, continues to operate exclusively on Russian crude after other suppliers scaled back, with Moscow seeking India’s support to boost domestic fuel sales and improve capacity utilisation.

(with inputs from The Economic Times)