Washington: In yet another controversial statement, US President Donald Trump reiterated on Friday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally assured him that India would stop purchasing oil from Russia, despite New Delhi’s earlier clarification dismissing such claims as baseless.
Speaking during a bilateral lunch with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at the White House, Trump claimed that India had “vastly reduced” its Russian oil imports and was preparing to “end them completely.” The US President also appeared to defend Hungary’s continued energy trade with Moscow, calling its dependence on a single pipeline “an unavoidable situation.”
“India is not going to be buying Russian oil anymore, and Hungary is sort of stuck because they have one pipeline that’s been there for years, and they’re inland; they don’t have sea, and I spoke with their leader… but India will not be buying oil from Russia,” Trump said.
“They already de-escalated and more or less stopped. They are pulling back. They bought about 38 per cent of the oil, and they wouldn’t be doing it anymore.”
This is the second time in a week that Trump has repeated the claim. Earlier, India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) firmly rejected his statement, emphasizing that India’s energy policy is guided solely by national interest and the need to ensure affordable and secure supplies.
“Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said. “This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions.”
The MEA clarified that discussions on energy cooperation with the US are ongoing but stressed that New Delhi continues to make independent decisions based on domestic requirements.
Trump’s remarks come amid heightened Western scrutiny over India’s continued import of discounted Russian crude — a move that many in Washington claim indirectly supports Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine. However, Indian officials, including External Affairs Minister Dr. S. Jaishankar and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, have repeatedly defended the government’s stance, asserting that India will always prioritize the welfare of its citizens over geopolitical pressure.
