The India-flagged lipid tanker Desh Ujaala is pictured successful the Gulf waters adjacent Al-Basrah Oil Terminal (ABOT), astir 50 kilometres offshore of Iraq's confederate Faw peninsula, connected August 5, 2025.
Hussein Faleh | AFP | Getty Images
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him New Delhi volition halt buying lipid from Russia, though the determination volition instrumentality time.
"[Modi] assured maine contiguous that they volition not beryllium buying lipid from Russia. That's a large stop." Trump said astatine the press briefing successful the Oval Office. "Now we've got to get China to bash the aforesaid thing."
He added that Washington was unhappy with New Delhi's purchases of Russian crude due to the fact that it allowed Moscow to proceed waging its "ridiculous war" successful Ukraine.
However, the U.S. president besides said that the halt volition not beryllium immediate, and determination volition beryllium "a small spot of a process," without giving a wide timeline.
CNBC reached retired to India's Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas for comment, but did not person an contiguous reply.
India's imports of Russian lipid person been a sticking constituent successful the narration betwixt Washington and New Delhi. Trump slapped further tariffs of 25% connected India backmost successful August, raising the full levy to 50%, portion India has called retired the U.S. for its commercialized with Russia.
"If India doesn't bargain [Russian] oil, it makes [ending the war] overmuch easier," Trump said. "They assured maine wrong a abbreviated play of time, they volition not beryllium buying lipid from Russia, and they volition spell backmost to Russia aft the warfare is over."
On Thursday, Brent crude futures climbed 0.82% to $62.43 a tube by 10:31 p.m. ET, portion U.S. West Texas Intermediate futures climbed 0.89% to $58.79.
India is one of the biggest buyers of Russian oil. Data from probe steadfast Kpler shows Russia exports astir 3.35 cardinal barrels of crude per day, with India taking astir 1.7 cardinal and China 1.1 million.
New Delhi has defended those purchases, with Energy Minister Hardeep Singh Puri telling CNBC successful July that New Delhi helped stabilize planetary vigor prices and was encouraged by the U.S. to bash so.
"If radical oregon countries had stopped buying astatine that stage, the terms of lipid would person gone up to 130 dollars a barrel. That was a concern successful which we were advised, including by our friends successful the United States, to delight bargain Russian oil, but wrong the terms cap," Puri said.
Russian income of crude lipid person been placed nether a terms headdress by the G7 nations and the European Union since Moscow's 2022 penetration of Ukraine.
That terms cap, acceptable astatine $47.6 per barrel, aims to bounds Moscow's gross from lipid exports, constricting the country's quality to concern its warfare successful Ukraine.
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