U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has claimed that India has “stopped” buying oil from Russia after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a 25% tariff on countries purchasing oil from Moscow.

Mr. Trump has imposed 50% tariffs on India, including 25% for its purchases of Russian oil.

Speaking with Fox Business, Mr. Bessent said, “India started buying Russian oil after the (Ukraine) conflict began, but President Trump put a 25% tariff on them, and India has geared down and has stopped buying Russian oil.”

India had described the U.S. action as “unfair, unjustified and unreasonable” while maintaining that its energy policy is guided by its own national interest.

A Bill introduced by Senator Lindsey Graham has proposed a 500% tariff on secondary purchase and reselling of Russian oil. The proposal has near-unanimous backing in the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

While speaking on the Bill, Mr. Bessent said that it is a proposal that Senator Graham has in front of the Senate and “we will see whether that passes. We don’t believe that President Trump needs that authority, that he can do it under IEEPA, but that the Senate wants to give him that authority.”

Mr. Bessent also accused Europe of buying Russian oil and funding Russia’s war against Ukraine.

“And just, just to be clear that we have Europe buying Russian oil, still, still, or four years later, they are financing the war against themselves,” Mr. Bessent added.

India fell to third place among buyers of Russian fossil fuels in December after Reliance Industries and state-owned refiners sharply cut crude oil imports, according to the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, emerged as the biggest buyer of discounted Russian crude after Western countries shunned Moscow following its February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

We are not going to absolutely discontinue purchasing Russian crude oil as long as we are in compliance with all sanctions, Anuj Jain, Director of Finance at state-owned refiner Indian Oil stated in the second quarter investor call on Tuesday (October 28, 2025). The senior executive of the state-owned refiner argued that it is not Russian crude that has been sanctioned, instead entities and shipping lines that have been sanctioned.

“Today if somebody comes to me which is a non-sanctioned entity, the cap is being complied with and shipping is fine, I will continue to buy it [Russian oil],” he told investors. Mr. Jain was responding to a question about validating source of the buyer in spot market purchases. He assured that a certificate of origin is part of the standard documentation when one makes a payment. 

Discounts consistent in past five-six months 

Mr. Jain stated in the investor call that Russian crude formed 18-19% of the state-owned downstream refiner’s overall mix in the second quarter. He added that discounts on Russian crude have been “consistent” in the past five to six months at about $2-3 for every barrel. 

Greatest point of contention in U.S. trade negotiations 

Other than concerns about agricultural trade, India’s purchase of Russian crude oil has been the biggest point of contention towards securing a trade deal with the U.S. This was especially after Washington imposed 50% tariffs on New Delhi which also included a 25% penalty for purchasing Moscow’s oil. U.S., which has been apprehensive about Russian actions in Ukraine and has been seeking an end to the war that started 2022, sanctioned two of their largest oil companies Lukoil and Rosneft on October 23. This was in a bid to curtail their potential to supply to overseas markets.

Russia is confident that its energy cooperation with India will “continue”, the country’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday, a day after U.S. President Donald Trump claimed New Delhi assured him of stopping purchase of oil from Russia.

“We continue to cooperate with our friendly partners. Our energy resource is in demand. It is economically viable and feasible,” Mr. Novak, who looks after Russia’s energy sector, was quoted as saying by the independent Interfax news agency.

“….I am confident that our partners will continue to work with us, interact, and develop energy cooperation,” he said.

Mr. Novak made the remarks in response to Mr. Trump’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured him that India would stop buying Russian crude.

The U.S. president claimed that while India may not be able to cut the procurement immediately, the process has started.

“We’re only seeing signals in the press today that our partners are declaring that no one can dictate to them, and that they will choose their own path,” Mr. Novak said.

In response to Trump’s oil trade claims, India on Thursday said it is “broad-basing and diversifying” its energy sourcing to meet market conditions, stressing that its import policies are guided entirely by national interest.

Russia is among the top suppliers of crude oil to India.

On Wednesday, Mr. Novak said that India is mainly paying for Russian oil in roubles, but has started payments in the Chinese currency yuan.

Traditionally reliant on Middle Eastern oil, India significantly increased its imports from Russia following the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces. Western sanctions and reduced European demand made Russian oil available at steep discounts.

In the first seven months of 2025, Russian crude oil exports amounted to 87.5 million tonnes, or 36.4% of India’s total imports, according to Interfax.

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said that he had ordered the government to take steps to mitigate the trade imbalance with India.

India is a “Maharaj” in tariffs and it is running a “profiteering scheme” by using discounted Russian crude oil, White House Trade Adviser Peter Navarro has said, in yet another sharp criticism of New Delhi.

Mr. Navarro’s comments came on a day External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar responded to criticism of India by American officials for its energy ties with Russia and said the U.S. itself had asked New Delhi to help stabilise global energy markets by buying Russian oil.

The White House Trade Adviser also talked about how India is “cosying up to” Chinese President Xi Jinping.

The relations between New Delhi and Washington are on a downturn after U.S. President Donald Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to a whopping 50%, including 25% additional duties for India’s purchase of Russian crude oil.

“Prior to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, India virtually bought no Russian oil… It was like almost one per cent of their need. The percentage has now gone up to 35%,” Mr. Navarro told reporters in the U.S.

Mr. Navarro’s fresh attack on India came three days after he wrote a piece in the Financial Times slamming the country for its procurement of Russian crude oil.

He said the argument that India needs Russian oil to meet its energy requirements does not make any sense.

“They get cheap Russian oil and make refined products which they sell at premium prices in Europe, Africa and Asia,” he said, adding “it is purely profiteering by the Indian refining industry.”

“What is the net impact on Americans because of our trade with India? They are Maharaj in tariff. (We have) higher non-tariff barriers, massive trade deficit etc — and that hurts American workers and American businesses,” he said.

“The money they get from us, they use it to buy Russian oil, which then is processed by their refiners,” he said.

“The Russians use the money to build arms and kill Ukrainians and American tax-payers have to provide more aid and military hardware to Ukrainians. That’s insane,” he added.

“India does not want to recognise its role in the bloodshed,” he said, adding India is running a “profiteering” scheme.

Though the U.S. imposed an additional 25% tariff on India for its energy ties with Russia, it has not initiated similar actions against China, the largest buyer of Russian crude oil.

Defending its purchase of Russian crude oil, India has been maintaining that its energy procurement is driven by national interest and market dynamics.

Also read: India’s purchase of Russian crude funding war in Ukraine, has to stop: U.S. trade adviser Navarro

India turned to purchasing Russian oil sold at a discount after Western countries imposed sanctions on Moscow and shunned its supplies over its invasion of Ukraine in February, 2022.

Consequently, from a mere 1.7% share in total oil imports in 2019-20, Russia’s share increased to 35.1% in 2024-25, and it is now the biggest oil supplier to India.