India To Stop Buying Russian Oil? Russia Minister Sergei Lavrov Says, 'It's Only Trump's Claim'

Moscow: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday refuted United States President Donald Trump's claim that India plans to stop buying oil from Russia. Addressing the State Duma, Lavrove stressed that there is no official confirmation that India will halt the purchase.

"No one other than Donald Trump has stated that India will stop purchasing Russian oil," Lavrov said, adding, “I have not heard such a statement from anyone else, including Prime Minister Modi and Indian leaders.” He assured that there is no grounds to suggest that Indian-Russian agreements are in jeopardy.

Earlier, Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal also said that India's energy decisions being guided by national interest.

"In so far as India's energy security or sourcing is confirmed, the government has publicly on several occasions, including me here, stated that ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion is the supreme priority of the government," Jaiswal said.

He added, “Diversifying our energy sourcing in keeping with objective market conditions and evolving international dynamics is at the core of our strategy to ensure this. All of India's decisions are taken and will be taken with this in mind.”

India Foreign Secretary Vikran Misri also stated that "national interest" will continue to guide India's energy-related decisions, adding that the key drivers of India's energy policy are "adequate availability, fair pricing and reliability of supply".

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