The Russian government has dismissed US President Donald Trump’s assertion that India has agreed to stop purchasing Russian oil as part of a newly announced trade deal. In a statement, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Spox Zakharova stated that there is “no reason to believe” that New Delhi has altered its energy cooperation stance with Moscow.
Zakharova said, ‘No Reason to Believe India Has Reconsidered its Approach to Energy Cooperation with Russia.’ She further added, “we are convinced that India’s purchase of Russian hydrocarbons is beneficial to both countries and contributes to maintaining stability in the international energy market. We are ready to continue close cooperation in this area with our partners in India.”
‘No Reason to Believe India Has Reconsidered its Approach to Energy Cooperation with Russia’ – 🇷🇺 FM Spox Zakharova
— RT_India (@RT_India_news) February 4, 2026
‘The trade in resources is beneficial for both sides and contributes to maintaining stability in the international energy market,’ she added. pic.twitter.com/TsD5GofcQK
This comes after Kremlin Spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that India has not informed Russia about stopping importing oil. He also said that there is no new development in India diversifying its source of petroleum products, as Russia is not the sole supplier of oil to India. He said, “We, along with all other international energy experts, are well aware that Russia is not the only supplier of oil and petroleum products to India. India has always purchased these products from other countries. Therefore, we see nothing new here.”
Notably, while announcing that the US and India have agreed to finalise the trade deal, President Donald Trump had claimed that India has agreed to stop purchasing oil from Russia as part of the deal. While the Indian govt has not directly countered that claim, the govt has reiterated that energy security of the country remains the top priority.
Addressing the Lok Sabha on the proposed trade deal, Minister Piyush Goyal said, “Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy to ensure this. All of India’s actions are taken with this in mind.”
India remains a major buyer of Russian oil despite repeated threats from Trump. However, the share of Russian oil in total imports has come down in recent times as a result of a fall in the discount offered on it.
Apart from 25% reciprocal tariff, Trump has imposed an additional 25% tariff on Indian exports to the USA for buying Russian oil. As per the trade deal, this total 50% tariff will come down to 18%.
