By Admin 
Russia has taken a clear stand on the recent trade agreement between India and America. Russian officials have said that they do not see any major reason why India has made any major change in its policy of purchasing oil from Russia. US President Donald Trump’s claim that India has stopped purchasing oil from Russia is wrong.
Russia said that Trump is putting pressure on independent India
On February 4, 2026, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said that Trump is trying to pressure independent countries like India to do business. He stressed that Moscow sees no reason why its ‘Indian friends’ would make any sudden changes in energy ties. Zakharova said that Russia is confident that India’s purchase of Russian hydrocarbons (oil and gas) is beneficial for both countries and it maintains stability in the international energy market. Russia is ready to continue close cooperation with India in this field.
India did not give any statement of not buying oil
Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov also said that India is completely free to buy oil from any country. He told that Russia knows that India buys these products from other countries also, so there is nothing new in this. Peskov clarified that Russia has not received any official statement or message from India about stopping the purchase of Russian oil.
These comments have come in response to Trump’s claim, in which he had posted on Truth Social on February 2, 2026, that under the India-US trade agreement, Prime Minister Narendra Modi has agreed to stop buying oil from Russia. Trump had said that India will now buy more oil from Venezuela, which will help in ending the Russia-Ukraine war soon. Trump had claimed that the agreement has reduced the tariff on Indian imports from 50 percent to 18 percent, in which the additional 25 percent penalty tariff imposed on Russian oil was also removed.
A White House official also confirmed that additional tariffs on Russian oil purchases have been removed and India has agreed to stop such purchases. But till now there has been no official response from India on Trump’s oil related claim. In his social media post, Prime Minister Modi had only talked about reducing the tariff and had said that now 18 percent tariff will be imposed on Made in India products, which will increase cooperation between the two countries.
Trump had imposed penalty tariff on buying oil from Russia
Last year, Trump had doubled the tariff on India’s Russian oil imports to 50 percent, which increased the tension between the two countries. In recent months, India has already reduced Russian oil imports, but there has been no confirmation of a complete stop. Russia says that India’s energy policy is its own and no external pressure can change it.