Trump Claims India Will Stop Russian Oil Purchases Despite Official Denial from Indian Government

US President Trump claimed PM Modi had assured him India would stop buying Russian oil. (File)

Washington:

US President Donald Trump on Friday repeated his assertion that India has "de-escalated" its purchases of Russian oil, during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House.

"India is not going to be buying Russian oil anymore. And they have already de-escalated, and they have more or less stopped; they are pulling back. They bought about 38 percent of the oil, and they won't be doing it anymore," he stated.

Trump had claimed on Wednesday that he had been "assured" that India would cease purchasing oil from Russia, acknowledging that such a transition "couldn't be done immediately."

"He assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia...You can't do it immediately. It's a little bit of a process, but the process is going to be over with soon, and all we want from President Putin is...stop this," he remarked.

He suggested that India's withdrawal from Russian oil purchases would make resolving the conflict "much easier."

"Within a short period of time, they will not be buying oil from Russia, and they'll go back to Russia after the war's over," he emphasized.

Trump also described Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a "great man" and called India "an incredible country."

However, on Thursday, India officially rejected Trump's claims about having a telephone conversation with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

When questioned about whether such a conversation had occurred between PM Modi and the US President, Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal stated during a weekly media briefing: "Regarding the comment from the US on energy issue, we have already issued a statement, which you can refer to. As for the telephonic conversation, I can say that there has been no discussion between the Prime Minister and President Trump".

While India has increased its Russian oil purchases in recent years, China remains Moscow's largest energy customer.

In August, the Trump administration imposed an additional 25 percent tariff on India for buying Russian oil but took no similar action against China.

Trump's comments come as India's trade negotiation team is in Washington for a new round of talks with US officials.

On Wednesday, the Commerce Ministry indicated that India could import more crude oil and natural gas worth $12-$13 billion from the US without modifying its refinery configurations. The government is interested in diversifying the country's energy import sources, provided resources are available at the "right price."

These trade discussions resume in Washington shortly after the new US ambassador to India, Sergio Gor, met with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, and National Security Advisor Ajit Doval in New Delhi.