Donald Trump claims PM Modi assured him India will not purchase oil from Russia

PTC News Desk: US President Donald Trump in another claim said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him that India will stop purchasing oil from Russia. He said that India will curb its Russian seaborne crude exports, months after Washington slapped 25 per cent punitive tariffs. 

New Delhi and Beijing are the two top buyers of Russian seaborne crude exports.

"He (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) has assured me there will be no oil purchased from Russia... You know, you can't do it immediately. It's a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over with soon," Trump told reporters.

He further claimed that if India doesn't buy Russian oil, "it makes it much easier" for him to broker a truce between Russia and Ukraine. "...They will go back to Russia after the war is over," he added.

India’s Reaction

New Delhi has neither confirmed nor denied Trump’s comments. Despite the punitive tariffs, India has consistently defended its continued purchase of Russian oil — a long-standing partner — even after Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. The Indian government maintains that importing Russian crude is essential to keeping energy prices affordable and stabilising the domestic market, while labelling the US tariffs as “unjustified.”

The Trump administration has now slapped an additional 25% tariff on India for its Russian oil imports, bringing the total duties on Indian goods to 50% — among the highest globally. India remains the only major economy targeted by what Trump calls “secondary tariffs,” even though China, too, continues to import large quantities of Russian oil.

Despite Trump’s assertions, Russia remains India’s largest oil supplier. Data from commodities and shipping analytics firm Kpler shows that in September alone, India accounted for 34% of incoming crude shipments, even after a 10% decline in imports during the first eight months of 2025.

Kpler’s latest figures estimate India’s crude imports in September at over 4.5 million barrels per day — about 70,000 barrels higher than August but slightly below the levels recorded a year earlier.

While state-owned refiners reduced their imports of Russian oil by more than 45% between June and September, the overall supply of crude to India has not been significantly affected. The decline appears to be a result of regular market adjustments rather than the impact of U.S. tariffs or European criticism of India’s trade with Moscow amid the Ukraine conflict.