President Donald Trump told reporters at the White House that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him earlier Wednesday that he would halt Russian oil imports.
“He’s a friend of mine, we have a great relationship … we have a great relationship – no, we were not happy with him buying oil from Russia because that let Russia continue on with this ridiculous war where they’ve lost a million and a half people,” Trump said from the Oval Office as he criticized Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine.
“I was not happy that India was buying oil, and (Modi) assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That’s a big step. Now we’ve got to get China to do the same thing,” Trump added.
India “is a significant importer of oil and gas,” its Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement Thursday, without naming Russia nor referencing Modi’s purported assurance that he would stop Russian oil imports.
“Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy. This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions,” it said.
“Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement. This has steadily progressed in the last decade.”
Trump has for months been calling on India to cease purchasing Russian oil, citing India’s continued purchases of cheap Russian oil in escalating his trade war. In August, Trump announced a 25% tariff on India as a penalty for importing Russian oil and gas, building on a previously announced 25% tariff rate.
In a follow-up exchange on Wednesday, Trump called Modi “a great man, and he loves Trump.”
“He’s assured me there will be no oil purchased from Russia – I don’t know, maybe that’s a breaking story, can I say that?” Trump continued. “There will be no oil, he’s not buying his oil from Russia, it started – you know, you can’t do it immediately, it’s a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over with soon.”
And he suggested India’s move to cease Russian oil imports would speed the end of the war in Ukraine.
“If India doesn’t buy oil, it makes it much easier, and they’re not going to buy, they assured me they will, within a short period of time, they will not be buying oil from Russia,” Trump said. “And they’ll go back to Russia after the war is over.”
India has long been reliant on Russia for crude oil to support its booming economy and growing population, now at more than 1.4 billion people.
The world’s most populous nation is already the third-biggest consumer of oil globally, and with India’s consumption rate still growing rapidly, it is expected to surpass China by 2030, according to Reuters.
CNN’s Jennifer Hansler and Aishwarya S. Iyer contributed to this report.
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