India continues to buy oil from Russia despite US President Donald Trump’s threats to impose secondary sanctions, Reuters reported, citing two sources in the Indian government.
One of the agency’s interlocutors said that these are long-term contracts and “it is not easy to stop buying”.
On 14 July, Donald Trump threatened to impose 100 per cent duties on countries buying Russian oil if Russia fails to reach a peace agreement with Ukraine. On 30 July, the American president announced 25 – per cent import duties for India – he justified this, among other things, by the fact that India buys military equipment and energy from Russia.
At the end of July, Trump told reporters that he had set a ten-day deadline for the Kremlin to conclude a peace agreement with Ukraine – instead of the 50 days he had previously said. The US insists on a ceasefire, while Kiev makes it clear that it is ready to cease fire without additional conditions. Moscow does not accept this offer.
Russia is the largest supplier of oil to India, providing about 35 per cent of total supplies to the country. According to Reuters, India received about 1.75 million barrels of Russian oil per day in January-June this year, up 1 per cent from a year ago.