Trump Claims India Will Stop Russian Oil Purchase; 'Outsourcing Key Decisions to US,' Says Congress

New Delhi: US president Donald Trump has once again claimed that India will no longer be purchasing oil from Russia, repeating a statement he made earlier in the week which New Delhi has not yet fully refuted.

While speaking to reporters at the White House on October 17 during a lunch with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Trump was asked a question about Russia’s main oil buyers.

“You said India and Hungary? That’s an interesting combination. Well, India is not going to be buying Russian oil anymore and Hungary is sort of stuck because they have one pipeline that’s been there for years and years and years. And they’re inland. They don’t have sea. And I spoke with the very great leader of Hungary and they are – you know, it’s very hard for them to get oil.”

He added, “India will not be buying oil from Russia. And they’ve already de-escalated and they’ve, more or less, stopped. They’re pulling back. They bought about 38% of the oil and they won’t be doing it anymore.”

During the October 17 event with Zelenskyy, Trump again said he was working to “get the war ended” following what he described as a long phone call with Russian president Vladimir Putin a day earlier.

'A big step'

The comments come two days after Trump told reporters that prime minister Narendra Modi had personally assured him that India would end its Russian oil imports. “I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he (Modi) assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That’s a big step,” Trump said on October 15, calling it “breaking news.”

He also said at the time that the change “could not be done immediately” but would be “a bit of a process.” “The process is going to be over with soon,” he added.

Following those remarks, the Ministry of External Affairs issued a carefully worded response that neither confirmed nor denied Trump’s claim about not buying Russian oil, but rather stated that New Delhi was already “diversifying” its sourcing. “Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy. This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions,” MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said on October 16.

Later, the White House said that India had halved its purchases of Russian oil, though Indian officials denied that any such reduction had taken place. According to a Reuters report, a White House official said talks with an Indian delegation in Washington had been “productive” and that Indian refiners were “already cutting Russian oil imports by 50%.”

However, Indian industry sources told Reuters there had been no instruction from the government to reduce Russian imports and that refiners had already placed orders for November and December cargoes, so “any cut could be visible in December or January import numbers”.

Jaiswal also said that energy cooperation with the US had expanded steadily over the past decade and that discussions were continuing under the current administration. “Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement. This has steadily progressed in the last decade. The current administration has shown interest in deepening energy cooperation with India. Discussions are ongoing,” he said.

At the ministry’s regular media briefing later that evening, Jaiswal only confirmed that there had been no phone call between Modi and Trump on the day the US president said they had spoken. “We would request you to look at that particular statement for the questions that you have on…whether there was a conversation or a telephone call between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump. I’m not aware of any conversation yesterday between the two leaders,” he told reporters.

The Indian government has not issued any fresh response to Trump’s latest comments on Friday. 

According to official readouts, the last conversation between the two leaders took place on October 9, when Modi congratulated Trump on the Gaza ceasefire agreement and discussed ongoing trade negotiations.

'Speaking on India's behalf'

Trump’s renewed claim on Friday comes against the backdrop of his administration’s efforts to pressure major energy importers to cut purchases from Moscow. In August, he doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50%, citing India’s continued imports of Russian crude – a move New Delhi described as unfair, noting that several Western countries still buy energy from Russia. India is the second largest buyer of Russian crude after China, but Beijing has still not been imposed any tariffs for its purchases.

According to a September 2025 analysis by the Helsinki-based Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India remains the second-largest buyer of Russian fossil fuels, importing € 3.6 billion worth that month, of which crude oil accounted for roughly  € 2.5 billion.

Recent shipping data from Kpler showed state-owned refiners reducing Russian oil purchases by about 45% between June and September, while private refiners such as Reliance Industries and Rosneft-backed Nayara Energy increased their intake.

Trump’s claims have also prompted political criticism at home in India. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi accused Modi of allowing the US president “to decide and announce that India will not buy Russian oil” and of failing to contradict him publicly, while Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh alleged that the prime minister had “outsourced key decisions to America.”

Following Trump’s latest remarks on Friday, the Congress party reiterated its criticism, accusing the prime minister of letting the US president speak on India’s behalf. In a post on X, the party said Trump had “taken decisions for India in front of the Ukrainian president” and questioned “why Narendra Modi has allowed Trump to decide that India will stop buying oil from Russia.” The party added that Trump’s remarks amounted to “an insult to the country.”

During the same White House event on Friday, Trump also referred to India and Pakistan while speaking about past conflicts that he claimed to have helped defuse.

“I solved eight wars. Go to Rwanda and the Congo, talk about India and Pakistan. Look at Thailand. Look at all of the wars that we solved,” he said, adding that the prime minister of Pakistan had told him he “saved millions of lives in interceding on Pakistan.” Trump said the India–Pakistan confrontation “would have been a bad one, two nuclear nations,” and described it as an example of his earlier success at conflict mediation.

Trump has been repeatedly claiming to have mediated in the ceasefire to the four-day clash between India and Pakistan in May. Pakistan has backed his claims, while India has only asserted that the halt in hostilities was due to talks between the two militaries.

The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.