Representatives of the Indian authorities said that their country will continue to buy oil from Russia despite the threat of sanctions that US President Donald Trump said he would impose, writes the "New York Times", quoted by BTA.
Reuters notes that it currently has no confirmation of the information. The White House, the Indian Foreign Ministry and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas of India have not yet responded to requests for comment.
Last month, the US president warned on the social network "Truth Social" that he would impose additional sanctions on India for purchasing Russian weapons and oil. But he later said he didn't care what India did with Russia.
On Friday, Trump told reporters that he had heard that India would no longer buy oil from Russia. “I understand that India will no longer buy oil from Russia,“ he told reporters. “That's what I heard. I don't know if that's true or not. It's a good move. We'll see what happens.“
But two senior Indian officials said today that there was no change in Indian policy, the New York Times reported. The article also said that one of the Indian officials said that the government “has not given any instructions to the oil companies” to reduce imports from Russia.
Trump did not say what the penalty would be if India did not heed his call to stop importing Russian oil, the "New York Times" noted. Some officials and analysts have suggested that Trump's attention to India's purchase of Russian oil could be a negotiating tactic as India and the United States try to finalize the early phases of a bilateral trade agreement.
On July 14, Trump threatened 100 percent tariffs on countries that buy Russian oil if Moscow does not reach a peace agreement with Ukraine. Russia is India's largest importer, providing about 35 percent of India's total imports.