Trump and MEA at odds over Russian oil imports

17 OCTOBER 2025

India and the United States continued to differ publicly over Russian oil as U.S. President Donald Trump said he had been assured by Prime Minister Narendra Modi that India will stop buying oil from Russia, while the Ministry of External Affairs maintained the two leaders had not spoken about the issue.
However, the MEA said that India was “broad-basing” and “diversifying” its sources of energy according to market needs, and did not specifically deny the claim that it was reducing its intake.
The subject of Russian oil, which has led to the U.S. imposing penalty tariffs on India, is also believed to be holding up trade talks between the two countries.
While the government has consistently denied it would bow to pressure, data shows that oil public sector undertakings have dropped their Russian imports by as much as 45% between June and September 2025, even though Russia remains India’s biggest supplier overall.