'No statements from India on halting Russian oil purchases': Kremlin reacts to Trump's claim

Russia on Tuesday said it has not heard from India about any move to halt oil purchases, after US President Donald Trump claimed Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian crude.

"We have heard no statements from India about it halting oil purchases from Russia," Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said while speaking to reporters. "We respect bilateral US-Indian relations. 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," he said, "and we intend to further develop our bilateral relations with Delhi.

On Monday, Trump, after a phone conversation with Prime Minister Modi, announced a trade deal with India. In a post on Truth Social, Trump said the two leaders spoke about trade as well as "ending the War with Russia and Ukraine".

"He (Modi) agreed to stop buying Russian Oil, and to buy much more from the United States and, potentially, Venezuela," the US President claimed, adding that this will help "end the war in Ukraine, which is taking place right now, with thousands of people dying each and every week."

While India has confirmed the trade deal with the US, it has not issued any public statement on ending purchases of Russian crude. Government sources told India Today that New Delhi "will continue to buy crude oil from anywhere in the world where there are no sanctions, based on market rates. It did not buy from Venezuela when sanctions were in place. Now that the sanctions have been lifted, it will buy from there."

India was not traditionally a major importer of Russian crude, but became one of Moscow's key buyers after Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Trump's efforts to restrict Russia's oil revenue stream have been seen as tightening supply lines to India, though not stopping them entirely.

Trump has made similar claims earlier as well. In October last year, he had said Modi agreed to cease Russian oil purchases, but Indian refiners continued buying discounted crude. Later that month, the US imposed sanctions on Russia's biggest oil producers, Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC.

(With inputs from Reuters)