Aboard Air Force One (TDI): US President Donald Trump has warned that India will continue facing steep tariffs unless it halts its imports of Russian oil, claiming Prime Minister Narendra Modi has already assured him that New Delhi plans to stop buying crude from Moscow.
“I spoke with Prime Minister Modi of India, and he said he’s not going to be doing the Russian oil thing,” Trump told reporters while speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One on Sunday, Reuters reported.
When asked about New Delhi’s statement that it was unaware of any recent phone call between the two leaders, Trump responded bluntly, “If they want to say that, then they’ll just continue to pay massive tariffs, and they don’t want to do that.”
Washington has long criticized India’s purchase of discounted Russian oil, arguing that the revenue helps fund Moscow’s war in Ukraine. Half of Trump’s 50% tariffs on Indian goods reportedly stem from what he calls India’s “unfair support” for Russian crude.
India, meanwhile, has emerged as the world’s largest buyer of seaborne Russian oil since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, taking advantage of price cuts after Western nations imposed sanctions and phased out imports.
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Earlier last week, Trump said Modi had personally assured him that India would end those purchases. However, India’s foreign ministry later stated it had no record of such a conversation, adding that New Delhi’s priority remains to “protect the interests of the Indian consumer.”
A White House official told reporters on Thursday that India had already reduced its Russian oil imports by half. But Indian industry sources contested that claim, saying refiners had made no immediate cuts and that shipments booked for November and December would still proceed as planned.
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Data from commodities tracker Kpler suggests India’s imports of Russian oil may actually rise by roughly 20 percent this month to about 1.9 million barrels per day, as Moscow boosts exports following Ukrainian drone strikes on its refineries.
