‘This is not about India’: US envoy says no country should buy Russian oil

New Delhi: The United States does not want any country to buy Russian oil, US Ambassador to India Sergio Gor said on Friday, while noting that India has diversified its oil sourcing. He made the remarks in New Delhi as Washington continues efforts to broker peace between Ukraine and Russia.

Gor was speaking at a press conference on the sidelines of the Global AI Impact Summit in the national capital.

US position on Russian oil

When asked about America's monitoring mechanism regarding Russian oil, Gor told the press:

"On oil, there's an agreement. We have seen India diversify on their oil. There is a commitment. This is not about India. The United States doesn't want anyone buying Russian oil. The President's been very clear on this, he wants this war to end. And so anyone who is in a way still involved with that conflict is something that the President wants to see come to an end in hopes of peace coming with that."

In efforts to end the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, Trump has been consistently urging energy decoupling from Russia, with several officials associated with the 2.0 administration repeatedly calling to halt oil exports.

The Ministry of External Affairs has underlined that diversifying energy sourcing, in line with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics, remains central to India’s strategy to ensure energy security for its population of 1.4 billion.

Pax Silica and AI cooperation

Gor was joined by US Under Secretary Jacob Helberg and White House adviser Michael Kratsios at the press conference.

Helberg expressed confidence about India joining the US-led Pax Silica initiative. He said:

"As you know PAX SILICA does not follow typical geopolitical geometries. It is a coalition of capabilities and India is by far the country that has the world's deepest bench of talent and we think will be a key contributor to helping us amortize R&D costs through scale. Scale is key to competitiveness and we look forward to working with India to strengthen our shared supply chains".

Kratsios told the media:

"One of the main messages here in India has been all about AI impacts and the story that the United States wants to bring is that we as a country want to share the great American technology stack with the world. We want every country in the world to be able to realize the benefits of AI and there's no better partner in the world and no better set of technologies than those provided by the United States. Today we unveiled a suite of initiatives across the whole of the US government to support the export of our great technologies abroad and we believe that is the best solution and best path forward for countries that want to realize these benefits."

Interim trade deal and AI Summit

When asked about the India-US interim trade deal, Gor praised ties between New Delhi and Washington and hailed the friendship between PM Modi and US President Trump.

"The signing will happen very soon. In fact even this week we have both teams are talking to each other and actively getting to a place where both will be able to sign. We're not dealing with a small country, this is one of the biggest economies. And so we're thrilled that the interim deal is done. You have the few tweaking points that are left to do but it's done. So the signing will happen sooner than later."

Gor also lauded the AI Summit:

"I think it was highly successful. I think it's a testament to your Prime Minister. This is when the intersection of AI is the United States and India right now. And it happened here in New Delhi and we're thrilled to be part of it."

The India AI Impact Summit 2026, the first global AI summit hosted in the Global South, brought together policymakers, industry leaders, academics and civil society representatives to deliberate on responsible AI governance and inclusive technological advancement.