U.S. will not sanction India for buying Russian oil: senior American officials

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Last Updated11/02/2023

The United States does not intend to sanction India over its continued purchase of Russian oil, calling New Delhi one of their most “consequential” partners.

While India and the U.S. “do not always share the same policy approaches” with regard to Russia and Ukraine, the two countries share a commitment to “upholding the international rules-based order that is founded on respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty”.
Despite several calls to reduce oil purchases from Russia, the Indian government has repeatedly asserted that it will buy oil from “wherever” it needs to.
According to the latest figures for January, India has imported around 1.27 million barrels per day (bpd) of Russian Urals oil, a 30-fold jump from last January when it was around 40,000 bpd.
Russia, which was earlier the 17th biggest oil supplier to India, has become the highest exporter for the past few months.
It now accounts for about 28% of India’s oil imports, up from 0.2% before the invasion of Ukraine.

American rejected the calls for secondary sanctions against countries such as China and India that were “financing the Russian economy and the Russian military machine”.
Earlier , the U.S. had called India’s stand on Russia, including its refusal to criticise Russia’s actions in Ukraine, as “deeply disappointing”.
However, the U.S. officials briefing the media made it clear that Washington was now “comfortable with the approach that India has taken”.