Trump warns India: Stop buying Russian oil or continue paying 'massive tariffs'

US President Donald Trump, speaking to journalists aboard Air Force One, said India would continue to pay “massive tariffs” on export of goods to the US unless it agreed to his terms and stopped the purchase of oil from Russia.

Trump told reporters, “I spoke with Prime Minister Modi of India, and he said he’s not going to be doing the Russian oil thing.”

On being told that India denied that there had been a telephonic discussion between him and Modi on this subject last week, Trump replied, “If they want to say that, then they’ll just continue to pay massive tariffs, and they don’t want to do that.”

Also Read: India will not be buying oil from Russia: Trump reiterates

Claim and counter-claim

Last week, the US President claimed that he had a conversation with PM Modi during which the latter had assured him that India would stop buying Russian oil.

However, India’s foreign ministry issued a denial, and said it was not aware that there was a telephone conversation between Trump and Modi that day. The foreign ministry spokesperson also said that India’s main concern was to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer.

On Thursday (October 16), the White House said India had cut its purchases of Russian oil by half, but Indian sources said there had not been any reduction of that level.

According to these sources, Indian refiners had already placed orders for November loading of Russian oil, and some for arrival in December. They said any reduction in purchases would start manifesting itself in December or January 2026 import numbers.

Also Read: India’s Russian oil imports rebound in October despite Trump’s claim

US tariffs

In the wake of the Russian war with Ukraine since 2022, several Western nations stopped buying Russian oil and also imposed sanctions on Russia.

As a result, Russian oil was selling at a discount, and India capitalised on the opportunity to shore up its crude oil supplies by purchasing oil from Russia at discounted rates.

India, however, came under pressure from Washington to stop its purchases, the argument being that it was indirectly funding Moscow’s war against Ukraine.

The US imposed a massive 50 per cent tariff on Indian goods, including a 25 per cent penalty for buying Russian oil.