Russia says India free to buy oil from any country after India-US trade deal

Russia on Wednesday said India is free to source crude oil from any country and that New Delhi’s efforts to diversify its energy basket are neither new nor aimed at Moscow.

The remarks came after US President Donald Trump claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and instead purchase crude from the United States — and possibly Venezuela — under a trade understanding.

Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov dismissed suggestions that a change in India’s sourcing strategy would be unusual, stressing that Russia has never been India’s sole energy supplier.

“We, along with all international energy experts, know very well that Russia is not the only supplier of oil and petroleum products to India,” Peskov told reporters. “India has always bought these products from different countries. So we see nothing new here.”

India’s Trade Minister Piyush Goyal recently reiterated that New Delhi is expanding its energy mix to respond to changing global conditions and ensure long-term energy security.

Peskov also said Russia has received no official communication from India indicating an end to Russian oil purchases, a point he had made earlier as well. “No such signals have come from New Delhi,” he said.

Backing continued cooperation, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said hydrocarbons trade benefits both countries and contributes to global market stability.

“India’s purchase of Russian hydrocarbons is mutually beneficial and helps maintain balance in the global energy market,” Zakharova said at a briefing. “We are ready to continue close cooperation with our Indian partners.”

‘Full replacement impractical’

Russian energy analysts, meanwhile, said a complete replacement of Russian crude would be difficult for Indian refiners.

Igor Yushkov of the National Energy Security Fund noted that US shale exports are largely light crude grades, while Russia supplies heavier, sulphur-rich Urals crude that Indian refineries are configured to process. “India would need to blend US oil with other grades, which increases costs. A simple substitution is not possible,” he said.

Yushkov added that Russia typically exports between 1.5 and 2 million barrels per day of crude to India — volumes the US would struggle to match. “It appears Trump is projecting the talks as a win entirely on US terms,” he said.

He also recalled that when Russia redirected oil flows from Europe and the US to Asia in 2022, it cut output by around one million barrels per day, pushing global prices close to $120 a barrel and sending US fuel prices to record highs.

Trump had last year imposed steep tariffs on Indian goods over New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian energy, which the White House has said helps finance Russia’s war in Ukraine. He recently announced a trade deal cutting tariffs on Indian imports from 50 per cent to 18 per cent, effective immediately.

India imports nearly 88 per cent of the crude it refines into fuels such as petrol and diesel. Russian oil accounted for just 0.2 per cent of India’s imports until 2021, but after Western nations shunned Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India emerged as the largest buyer of discounted Russian crude.

According to data from analytics firm Kpler, India’s Russian crude imports fell to about 1.1 million barrels per day in the first three weeks of January, down from an average 1.21 million bpd in December and from over 2 million bpd recorded in mid-2025.