US warns India against Russia energy imports despite surge in its oil imports from Moscow

The United States does not believe it is in India’s interest to accelerate or even increase the imports of Russian energy and other commodities, said White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Monday. She, however, noted that India’s imports of Russian energy are only 1-2% of New Delhi’s total energy imports.

Psaki's remarks pertaining to India's Russian energy imports came in the backdrop of Moscow saying that Washington itself has increased the imports of Russia's oil and gas. Deputy Secretary of the Russian Security Council Mikhail Popov said on Sunday that the US has increased imports of Russian oil by 43%, reaching 100,000 barrels per day, just in the past week.

"The US forced Europeans to introduce anti-Russian sanctions, while not only continuing to import oil from Russia but increasing volume of [oil] deliveries for the past week by 43% up to 100,000 barrels per day! Besides, Washington allowed its companies to import mineral fertilizer from Russia, listing it as essential goods," Popov told Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper.

It is to mention as the Russia-Ukraine conflict continues to escalate after 40 days, New Delhi has reiterated calls for peace while not banning Russian energy imports. However, Western nations have called for a stronger boycott of Russian oil and gas. Moscow has also resisted the measures taken by US and European nations and has pushed for payments of Russian energy in rubles.

Amid tensions around procuring Russian energy, when Psaki was asked a question on India’s import of Russian oil, she said that the US expects every country around the world should abide by the sanctions that Washington announced against Russia. 

Psaki said, “I would note that, you know, just given some of the reporting, energy payments are not sanctioned; that’s a decision made by each individual country. And we’ve been very clear that each country is going to make their own choices, even as we have made the decision and other countries have made the decision to ban energy imports.”

“...We don’t believe it’s in India’s interest to accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities,” she also said.

Psaki's remarks came after Deputy NSA's India visit

Psaki’s remarks came just days after the US Deputy National Security Adviser (NSA) for International Economics Daleep Singh visited India for two days. During his trip to India from March 30-31, Singh met with Indian counterparts on the goals and mechanisms of the sanctions imposed on Russia by the US over the Moscow-Kyiv conflict. Weighing in on Singh’s India visit, the White House press secretary said that he conveyed the message regarding India’s imports of Russian energy. 

“So while he explained both the mechanisms for sanctions and reiterated that any country or entity should be abiding by those. We also made clear that we’d be happy to be a partner in reducing their reliance or even their small percentage of reliance on that," she stressed.

Image: AP