By Nandita Bose and Jarrett Renshaw
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia, and Trump said he would try to get China to do the same as Washington steps up efforts to cut off Moscow’s energy revenues.
India and China are the two main buyers of Russian seaborne crude exports, taking advantage of the reduced prices that Russia has been forced to accept after European buyers rejected purchases and the United States and the European Union imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump has recently attacked India over its purchases of Russian oil, imposing tariffs on Indian exports to the United States to discourage the country’s crude purchases as he seeks to choke off Russia’s oil revenues and pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.
“So he was not happy that India was buying oil, and he assured me today that they will not buy oil from Russia,” Trump told reporters during an event at the White House.
“That’s a big step. Now we’re going to get China to do the same.”
The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to emailed questions about whether Modi had made such a commitment to Trump.
Russia is India’s main oil supplier. Moscow exported 1.62 million barrels a day to India in September, about a third of the country’s oil imports. For months, Modi resisted American pressure and Indian officials defended the purchases as vital to national energy security.
While imports from other producers would likely cost India more, lower oil prices would soften the impact. Benchmark Brent crude futures hit a five-month low on Wednesday on concerns about a growing surplus in the market.
A move by India to halt imports would signal a major shift by one of Moscow’s biggest energy customers and could change the calculus for other nations that still import Russian crude. Trump wants to leverage bilateral relations to impose economic isolation on Russia, rather than relying solely on multilateral sanctions.
The announcement comes just days after Trump’s new Indian ambassador-pick, Sergio Gor, met Modi. The two discussed defense, trade and technology issues. The appointment of Gor, a confidant close to Trump, was widely seen as a positive step for the bilateral relationship between the United States and India.
During his comments to reporters, Trump added that India could not “immediately” stop the shipments, calling it “a small process, but that process will end soon.”
Despite his pressure on India, Trump has largely avoided putting similar pressure on China. The US trade war with Beijing has complicated diplomatic efforts, with Trump reluctant to risk further escalation by demanding a halt to Chinese energy imports from Russia.
Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on India this summer after the two countries failed to reach an initial trade deal. It followed with an additional 25 percent due to the country’s purchases of Russian oil. India was angered by the move because no other major buyer of Russian oil, such as China or Türkiye, was hit by similar tariffs.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose in Washington and Jarrett Renshaw in Philadelphia; Additional reporting by Tim Gardner and Trevor Hunnicutt; Editing by Chris Reese, Rami Ayyub and David Gregorio)