Russia has not yet received an official message from India regarding a possible refusal to buy Russian oil and only has public comments on the subject. This was stated by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov and Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, commenting on the statements of US President Donald Trump, TASS reported, quoted by BTA.
“We have not received official positions from Delhi on this issue so far“, Peskov said at a briefing, after being asked whether India had stopped buying Russian oil. According to him, the Kremlin only has public statements, without formal notifications from the Indian side.
The statements come after comments by Trump, who, after a conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, announced that India was giving up Russian oil. The US president added that an agreement had been reached on new bilateral trade terms, including a reduction in tariffs on Indian goods from 25 to 18 percent.
Prime Minister Modi confirmed the plan to reduce tariffs, but did not make an official public statement about refusing Russian supplies.
Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak specified that the government was monitoring the situation closely. “We only see public comments. We will watch how events develop“, Novak told the media.
He assured that Russia remained calm about the demand for its energy resources on world markets. “Our energy products are in demand, and supply will always meet the necessary demand, while maintaining the balance“, Novak noted.
Trump also claimed that India planned to start buying oil from the US and possibly from Venezuela, but Moscow has not yet received official confirmation from Delhi about a change in strategy.