Russia Rejects US President’s Statement
India was told by former US President Donald Trump that it had decided to stop buying Russian crude oil. In response, Russia said that India can buy oil from anyone. A top Russian official said that India’s long-standing method to getting energy hasn’t changed, and there has been no public message from India saying that buying will stop. The Kremlin said on Wednesday (February 4, 2026) that India can buy oil from any country it wants, and that its choice to get oil from more than one source is not new.
Russia says that India has never relied on just one country for oil imports and has always used a variety of strategies based on what was best for the country. Moscow made it clear that trade choices in energy are made for business reasons and not because of political pressure.
India Is Paying Attention to Energy Safety
India gets most of its crude oil from other countries, and it has always said that making sure its people have access to cheap, stable energy is its top concern. The US and India have said they will work together on trade issues, but Indian officials have not said for sure that they will stop buying Russian oil.
Last time, in 2022, Russia moved from selling oil in Europe and the US to selling oil in India. At that time, it cut production by one million barrels per day. This caused prices to go up to $120 per barrel, and Mr. Yushkov said that gasoline and diesel prices in the U.S. hit a record low. According to statistics from real-time analytics company Kpler, India’s imports of Russian crude oil dropped to about 1.1 million barrels per day in the first three weeks of January. This is down from an average of 1.21 million barrels per day the month before and over 2 million barrels per day in the middle of 2025.
It rests on price, availability, and the state of the market, government officials have said many times, before you buy oil. That India doesn’t want to be limited by what other countries say or claim, shows that it wants to keep its choices when it comes to companies open.
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Problems with Getting Rid of Russian Oil
Russian energy experts have questioned whether it would be possible to replace Russia’s oil sources with those from the US or other countries. US oil, on the other hand, may need to be mixed with other oils, which can make the price go up.
India gets a lot of oil from Russia right now, and it might be hard for other producers to meet these amounts in the short run. Experts say that a rapid change in where the oil comes from could stop refineries from working and make prices go up for Indian buyers.
There was no official confirmation from New Delhi
Even though Washington has said it many times, India has not made an official announcement that it will stop buying oil from Russia. After high-level talks, most of the public comments were about trade, taxes, and working together to improve the economy. There were no clear references to buying oil.
Russia has said that it values its energy partnership with India and hopes that the two countries will continue to work together. As long as the global oil market is unclear, India seems set on keeping all of its choices open. It has made it clear that it will buy oil from any source that is best for the country. The day before, Mr. Peskov said that Russia has not heard anything from India about stopping to buy oil from Russia.
Maria Zakharova, a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, said on February 4 that the trade in fuels is good for both India and Russia.
