Kremlin has not heard India's statement to stop buying Russian oil

JAKARTA - The Kremlin said on Tuesday it had not heard any statements from India about halting purchases of Russian oil, after US President Donald Trump said New Delhi had agreed to stop the purchases as part of a trade deal with Washington.

That was said following the announcement of the US to cut trade tariffs with India, following the suspension of Russian oil purchases.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia was carefully analyzing President Trump's statement on relations with India.

When asked directly whether India had decided to stop buying Russian oil, Peskov said: "So far, we have not heard any statements from Delhi on this issue," as reported by Al Arabiya from Reuters (4/2).

"We respect the bilateral US-India relationship," Peskov told reporters.

"But we are equally important in the development of a progressive strategic partnership between Russia and India," he continued.

""This is the most important thing for us," he said, "and we intend to further develop our bilateral relations with Delhi," Peskov said.

Earlier, President Trump announced a trade deal on Monday with India that cut US tariffs on Indian goods from 50 percent to 18 percent in return for India's suspension of Russian oil purchases and a reduction in trade barriers.

India has become the main buyer of discounted Russian crude via sea routes after Moscow's war in Ukraine began in 2022.

This triggered a harsh reaction from Western countries that have targeted Russia's energy sector with sanctions aimed at limiting Moscow's income to make it more difficult to finance the war.