Russian Foreign Minister’s Statement on Oil Purchases

February 13, 2026

In the outline of the trade deal between India and the United States, the US is making a significant claim that India will no longer purchase crude oil from Russia. Instead, India will purchase oil from the US and Venezuela. Consequently, the tariff on India has been reduced from 50 percent to 18 percent.

India’s Commerce and Industry Minister, Piyush Goyal, responded that we will buy oil from wherever we can find it, not from any one country. The US continues to insist that if India does not completely stop purchasing oil from Russia, it could face further fines and tariffs. Such US statements undoubtedly undermine India’s trade sovereignty, as who is the US to control our trade activities? Now, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has issued a statement on this matter. Lavrov stated that the US is pressuring countries like India not to buy cheap oil from Russia. He stated that it wants to control the world’s energy supply, forcing India and other countries to buy expensive gas and oil from the US.

The Russian Foreign Minister stated that the US is also pressuring BRICS countries to distance themselves from Russia. This is why sanctions have been imposed on two major Russian oil companies and efforts are being made to limit Russia’s trade and investment, in an attempt to weaken Russia economically and force it to withdraw from the Ukraine war. Lavrov stated that while the US seeks Russia’s cooperation in peacebuilding, it is imposing new sanctions despite seeking their consent.

On the other hand, while India claims it will not completely stop purchasing oil from Russia and will purchase oil from Russia or other countries as per its wish, the reality is that the US, in the name of dollar sovereignty and tariff reduction, has forced India to reduce or completely stop its oil purchases from Russia by negotiating trade deals with it. India’s oil purchases from Russia have also declined significantly. It’s being said that we’re entering into multiple purchase agreements rather than relying on a single country, but there’s no doubt that India is losing the opportunity to buy the cheapest oil due to the US trade deal.