‘Let’s not pretend there’s some grand principle…’: Jaishankar’s sharp criticism of US' changing stance on tariffs
S Jaishankar said that Russian have been steady suppliers. Their oil is reasonable as well as available, he said.
- Jun 12, 2026,
- Updated Jun 12, 2026 10:03 AM IST
There was no “grand principle” involved in the US’ sanctimonious tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a rather blunt statement. He said the US just can’t go about penalising countries when it doesn’t suit them.
Speaking at the discussion on ‘Emerging Powers and the New Geopolitical Competition’ at the Kultaranta Talks in Finland, Jaishankar said India was not buying significant amounts of Russian oil till 2022, and that too because circumstances forced India to.
“And I must say the Russians have been steady suppliers. They put the cargo out there and you go and buy oil, whichever is the most reasonable and available oil. But I do want people to remember this: At that time, the US specifically asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilise the markets.” he said.
“Right now, if you see, after putting tariffs on us last year for buying Russian oil, the US then lifted the sanctions. So let’s not pretend that there is some great principle involved here. I mean it is on-off, on-off, do it when it suits us, don’t do it when it doesn’t suit us…I mean come on…we are all adults in the room, we know what the game is,”said Jaishankar adding that making it about sanctimony is not really what it is.
During the discussion he also defended India’s decision to buy Russian oil. Answering a question about moral ambiguity of supporting Russia during the Ukraine war, Jaishankar pointed out that Indians have never endangered any European country, and no Indian weapon has ever been used to attack any European country. He said, unlike India, European weapons are used for attacks against India.
There was no “grand principle” involved in the US’ sanctimonious tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, said External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar in a rather blunt statement. He said the US just can’t go about penalising countries when it doesn’t suit them.
Speaking at the discussion on ‘Emerging Powers and the New Geopolitical Competition’ at the Kultaranta Talks in Finland, Jaishankar said India was not buying significant amounts of Russian oil till 2022, and that too because circumstances forced India to.
“And I must say the Russians have been steady suppliers. They put the cargo out there and you go and buy oil, whichever is the most reasonable and available oil. But I do want people to remember this: At that time, the US specifically asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilise the markets.” he said.
“Right now, if you see, after putting tariffs on us last year for buying Russian oil, the US then lifted the sanctions. So let’s not pretend that there is some great principle involved here. I mean it is on-off, on-off, do it when it suits us, don’t do it when it doesn’t suit us…I mean come on…we are all adults in the room, we know what the game is,”said Jaishankar adding that making it about sanctimony is not really what it is.
During the discussion he also defended India’s decision to buy Russian oil. Answering a question about moral ambiguity of supporting Russia during the Ukraine war, Jaishankar pointed out that Indians have never endangered any European country, and no Indian weapon has ever been used to attack any European country. He said, unlike India, European weapons are used for attacks against India.