Trump Says Russian Oil Import By India Has ‘More Or Less Stopped’

U.S. President Donald Trump has reiterated that India is significantly scaling back its purchases of Russian crude oil, stating that New Delhi has “more or less stopped” buying from Moscow.

Speaking during a bilateral lunch meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, Trump responded to a question on India's energy ties with Russia. “India will not be buying oil from Russia, they have already de-escalated and they have more or less stopped,” he said. “They are pulling back. They have bought about 38 per cent of the oil, and they won’t be doing it anymore,” Trump added.

His comments came a day after the Indian government announced that it was “broad-basing and diversifying” its energy imports in response to changing market conditions. The statement followed Trump’s earlier claim that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him New Delhi would halt purchases of Russian crude.

Washington has long held that India’s continued procurement of discounted Russian oil indirectly helps Moscow fund its war in Ukraine.

Tensions between India and the United States have escalated in recent weeks, particularly after President Trump raised tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent. The move includes a 25 per cent surcharge specifically tied to India's oil trade with Russia.

India responded sharply, calling the decision “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable.”

In a related development, Trump also reiterated his previous assertions about helping defuse tensions between India and Pakistan. He claimed that Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif credited him with preventing a major conflict between the two nuclear-armed neighbors. “The Prime Minister of Pakistan said I saved millions of lives by interceding … you look at Pakistan and India as an example that would have been a bad one for two nuclear nations,” Trump said.