By Admin 
US President Donald Trump, during his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky at the White House on Friday (17 October 2025), again claimed that India will no longer buy oil from Russia. Earlier on Wednesday (15 October 2025), he had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him in this regard. Trump said that he has already reduced imports. This is a big step.
Trump also said that now he will put similar pressure on China so that it does not buy crude oil from Russia. Before Trump’s statement, on Thursday (16 October 2025), India’s Foreign Ministry had completely rejected the claim related to oil purchase. Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal had said that there is no information about any conversation or telephone call between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump. The Foreign Ministry made it clear that there was no recent conversation between the two leaders, hence the question of assurance on oil purchase does not arise.
Why is Trump angry over Russian oil purchase?
America believes that India’s continued purchase of oil from Russia helps Moscow finance the Ukraine war. However, India has repeatedly said that it takes decisions keeping in mind its energy security and national interests. India still buys crude oil from Russia at concessional rates, but this import has decreased somewhat in the last months.
Why soft on Hungary, hard on India?
When reporters asked questions about Hungary’s Russian oil imports, Trump adopted a soft stance. He said Hungary is kind of stuck because they don’t have a sea and rely only on pipelines to bring oil. They are reducing the tension and have almost stopped now. He described Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban as a great leader and said that he would meet him in the coming weeks.
The pace of buying oil from Russia increased
Despite Donald Trump’s rhetoric, India’s crude oil imports from Russia strengthened in the first fortnight of October, halting the three-month decline in arrivals during July-September. Refineries have returned to full operation to meet the festive demand. Imports from Russia had decreased from 20 lakh barrels per day in June to 16 lakh barrels per day in September. However, the figures in early October indicate improvement.
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