Moscow: India is free to buy oil from any country, and its decision to diversify crude suppliers is nothing new, the Kremlin said on Wednesday. Responding to a question, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia has never been India’s sole supplier of oil and petroleum products.

“We, along with all other international energy experts, are well aware that Russia is not the only supplier of oil to India. India has always purchased these products from other countries. Therefore, we see nothing new here,” he said.

Peskov was reacting to US President Donald Trump’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to stop buying Russian oil and shift to purchasing crude from the United States and potentially Venezuela. A day earlier, Peskov had said Russia had not received any official communication from India on halting Russian oil imports.

According to PTI, Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova said the hydrocarbons trade benefits both countries. “We remain convinced that India’s purchase of Russian hydrocarbons is mutually beneficial and helps maintain stability in the international energy market. We are ready to continue close cooperation in this area with our partners in India,” she told a press briefing.

Business radio station Kommersant FM noted that, unlike Trump, Modi did not mention any agreement on stopping Russian oil imports.

Igor Yushkov, a leading expert at the National Energy Security Fund, said Indian refiners cannot fully replace Russian crude. He pointed out that US shale oil exports are largely light grades, while Russia supplies heavier, sulphur-rich Urals crude. Blending US oil with other grades would raise costs, making a direct substitution impractical.

Yushkov said Russia typically exports 1.5 million to 2 million barrels per day to India, volumes that the US would be unable to match. He suggested Trump’s remarks appeared aimed at projecting a negotiating win for Washington.

Recalling developments in 2022, Yushkov said Russia cut production by about 1 million barrels per day when it shifted exports from European and American markets to India, driving prices up to $120 per barrel and pushing US petrol and diesel prices to record highs.

Trump last year imposed tariffs of up to 50 per cent on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent levy linked to India’s purchases of Russian energy.

India imports about 88 per cent of its crude oil requirements from overseas. Russian oil accounted for just 0.2 per cent of India’s crude imports until 2021, but India, the world’s third-largest oil importer, became the biggest buyer of discounted Russian crude after Western countries imposed sanctions following Moscow’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine.

According to data from real-time analytics firm Kpler, India’s imports of Russian crude fell to about 1.1 million barrels per day in the first three weeks of January, down from an average of 1.21 million bpd in the previous month and over 2 million bpd in mid-2025.