Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said on Thursday (October 16, 2025) that Russia is confident that its energy cooperation with India will continue. This statement of Novak has come at a time when US President Donald Trump had claimed a day earlier that India had assured him to stop buying oil from Russia.

Independent news agency ‘Interfax’ quoted Novak as saying, ‘We will continue cooperation with our friendly partners. The demand for our energy resources remains. This is economically viable and practical. Novak said, ‘I am confident that our partners will continue to work with us, negotiate and develop energy cooperation.’

India’s response to Trump’s oil trade claims

Novak has made this comment in response to Trump’s claim, in which the US President had said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him that India will stop buying Russian crude oil. The US President claimed that although India will not be able to immediately cut purchases, it will definitely start doing so. Novak said, ‘All we hear in the media today is that our partners are declaring that no one can dictate to them and that they will choose their own path.’

Responding to Trump’s oil trade claims, India on Thursday said it is broadening and diversifying its energy sources to meet market conditions. India emphasized that its import policies will be completely based on national interest.

India increased oil trade from February 2022

India, traditionally dependent on West Asian oil, significantly increased its imports from Russia following the Russian military’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Due to Western sanctions and reduced European demand, Russian oil is becoming available at huge discounts.

According to independent news agency ‘Interfax’, Russian crude oil exports in the first seven months of 2025 stood at 87.5 million tonnes or 36.4 percent of India’s total imports. Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said that he has ordered the government to take steps to reduce the trade imbalance with India.

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Moscow has taken a big decision after Ukraine constantly targeted the refineries of Russia. Russia imposed a partial ban on diesel exports on Thursday (25 September 2025). Apart from this, the ban on petrol exports has been extended by the end of this year. In such a situation, questions are arising that it will also affect India.

Oil products decreased slightly: Russia

Russia’s refineries are being attacked by Ukraine, due to which its capacity has been deeply affected. According to the reports of Reuters, these attacks disrupted fuel exports from major ports in a few days and production declined by about 20 per cent. Russia’s Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak announced this decision and said that there has been a slight decrease in oil products. However, he also said that oil reserves are meeting this deficiency.

Agreement between other countries will not be affected

According to a report by the Russian news agency Interfax, Alexander Novak said that this decision has been taken to ensure the supply of petroleum products to the country’s domestic market. This ban on diesel will only apply to the resalers that do not produce it themselves. At the same time, the ban on petrol will be applicable to all producers and vendors. However, this will not affect the government agreement between Russia and other countries. It is clear that it is not going to affect India.

31 million tonnes of diesel exported last year

Sergei Aksyonov, the governor of Crimea, attributed the closure of several refineries for the obstructions in the fuel supply. Most of the diesel from Russia is carried through Baltic and Black C ports through North and South Pipelines. Russia produced about 86 million metric tonnes of diesel in the year 2024, out of which about 31 million tonnes were exported.

According to the local newspaper of Russia, Lukoil, the country’s second largest oil production company, has banned the sale of petrol in Jerry Can at some petrol pump in Moscow. Russia and America are the world’s largest exporter by sea route.

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