Moscow: The Kremlin on Wednesday said India remains free to source crude oil from any country and that New Delhi’s decision to diversify suppliers is neither new nor unusual.

Responding to questions on US President Donald Trump’s claim that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had agreed to halt purchases of Russian oil in favour of supplies from the United States and possibly Venezuela following the India-US trade deal, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia does not view India’s oil procurement strategy as a departure from past practice.

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

A day earlier, Peskov had noted that Moscow had not received any official communication from India regarding a stoppage of Russian oil imports.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova also underlined that the hydrocarbons trade remains mutually beneficial for both nations.

“We remain convinced that India's purchase of Russian hydrocarbons is beneficial to both countries and contributes to maintaining stability in the international energy market. We are ready to continue close cooperation in this area with our partners in India,” Zakharova said during a press briefing.

Russian business radio Kommersant FM pointed out that, unlike President Trump, Prime Minister Modi made no reference to any agreement on discontinuing imports of Russian crude.

Energy experts in Moscow have also questioned the feasibility of India fully replacing Russian oil with American supplies. Igor Yushkov, a senior analyst at the National Energy Security Fund, said such a shift would be technically and commercially challenging.

“The American shale oil they export is light grades, similar to gas condensate. Russia, on the other hand, supplies relatively heavy, sulfur-rich Urals. This means India will need to blend US crude with other grades, which incurs additional costs, meaning a simple substitution won't be possible,” he said.

Yushkov added that the scale of Russian exports to India cannot be easily matched.

“Russia typically exports 1.5 million to 2 million barrels per day to the country. America won't be able to cover that volume. So, one gets the sense that Trump is simply trying to show that he won these trade negotiations and the deal was concluded entirely in line with US demands,” he said.

Recalling earlier market disruptions, Yushkov said Russia’s redirection of exports to India in 2022, following sanctions from Western nations, resulted in a cut of one million barrels per day in production, pushing global oil prices to $120 per barrel and driving fuel prices in the US to record highs.

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

India imports nearly 88 per cent of its crude oil requirements from overseas, which are refined into fuels such as petrol and diesel. Russian oil accounted for just 0.2 per cent of India’s total crude imports until 2021. However, India — the world’s third-largest oil importer — emerged as the biggest buyer of discounted Russian crude after Western nations distanced themselves from Moscow following its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.

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 more than two million bpd recorded in mid-2025.

AFP