The US has stated that it is at ease with India’s strategy of purchasing oil from Russia. According to Karen Donfried, the US assistant secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs, Washington is not seeking to impose sanctions on New Delhi for continuing to buy oil from Russia because the relationship between the two countries is of utmost importance. “We are not looking to sanction India. Our relationship with India is the most consequential relationship,” she said in a telephonic press conference.
India strongly advocated for maintaining trade relations with Russia during the Russia-Ukraine conflict while denouncing the violence. In spite of pressure from the West, the position was upheld,
The country imported 33 times more Russian oil last month than it did the year before, setting a new record. After supplanting Iraq and Saudi Arabia a few months ago, Russia is now without a doubt India’s largest oil supplier.
Donfried also praised India for offering humanitarian aid to the Ukrainian people and for calling for a quick halt to Russia’s assault against Ukraine.
The US official stated, in response to a media inquiry on India purchasing oil from Russia, “By end of the decade Russia’s oil and gas will decline by 50 percent. We do not believe that sanction policy to have universal hearings. We are comfortable with the approach India has taken. We are already seeing results in the budget deficit that Russia has reported.”
Donfried further added, “We welcome PM Modi’s assertion that today’s era is not of war and his comments at the Nov 2022 G20 Summit in Bali calling for dialogue & diplomacy. India’s leadership role right now in G20 is commendable.”
According to US Assistant Secretary for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt, the joint US-India energy security agenda is especially crucial in view of the actions taken by Russian President Vladimir Putin over the past year to disrupt the world’s energy markets.
“By weaponizing Russia’s oil and gas resources, Russia has demonstrated that it will never again be a reliable energy supplier. It also caused a short spike in global oil and gas prices which continue to ripple around the world,” he commented. Despite not taking part in the price limitations, in his opinion, India has successfully leveraged the negotiation power it has gained from them, as well as the fact that Russia can no longer access a sizable chunk of the global market, to lower the price of Russian oil.
In response to a media probe on Russia being India’s oil supplier, Pyatt replied, “US crude production continues to grow to reach a new record in 2024. Minister Hardeep Puri said in Bangalore that we have shared resources and minimized role in carbon footprint, India was one of the top ten markets for US LNG.”
“Russia alone can end this war today. My boss US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that if Russia stopped fighting, the war will end but if Ukraine stops fighting then Ukraine will end. If Putin wins it would mean defeat for Ukraine and for all of us. I continue to be inspired by the people of Ukraine,” Donfried said.
Previously, US Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken had encouraged India not to purchase extra Russian oil during the April 2+2 ministerial dialogue between the US and India in Washington’s State Department.
On November 11, in New Delhi, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen stated, that India may purchase as much Russian oil as desired as long as it avoided using Western financial, insurance, and maritime services that were subject to the cap.
Other than China, India is Russia’s biggest oil consumer.