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WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia, and Trump said he would next try to get China to do the same as Washington intensifies efforts to cut off Moscow’s energy revenues.
India and China are the two top buyers of Russian seaborne crude exports, taking advantage of the discounted prices Russia has been forced to accept after European buyers shunned purchases and the US and the European Union imposed sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Trump has recently targeted India for its Russian oil purchases, imposing tariffs on Indian exports to the US to discourage the country’s crude buying as he seeks to choke off Russia’s oil revenues and pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.
“So I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia,” Trump told reporters during a White House event.
“That’s a big step. Now we’re going to get China to do the same thing.”
The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to emailed questions about whether Modi had made such a commitment to Trump. Russia is India’s top oil supplier. Moscow exported 1.62 million barrels per day to India in September, roughly one third of the country’s oil imports. For months, Modi resisted US pressure, with Indian officials defending the purchases as vital to national energy security.
While imports from other producers would likely cost India more, lower oil prices would temper the impact. Benchmark Brent crude futures hit a five-month low on Wednesday on concerns about a growing surplus in the market.
A move by India to stop imports would signal a major shift by one of Moscow’s top energy customers and could reshape the calculus for other nations still importing Russian crude. Trump wants to leverage bilateral relationships to enforce economic isolation on Russia, rather than relying solely on multilateral sanctions.
The announcement comes just days after Trump’s new pick for Indian ambassador, Sergio Gor, met with Modi.
The two discussed defense, trade and technology issues. The appointment of Gor, a close confidant to Trump, was widely seen as a positive move for the US-India bilateral relationship.
During his comments to reporters, Trump added that India could not “immediately” halt shipments, calling it “a little bit of a process, but that process will be over soon.”
Despite his push on India, Trump has largely avoided placing similar pressure on China. The US trade war with Beijing has complicated diplomatic efforts, with Trump reluctant to risk further escalation by demanding a halt to Chinese energy imports from Russia.
Trump imposed a 25 percent tariff on India this summer after the two countries failed to reach an initial trade agreement. He followed up with an additional 25 percent because of the country’s purchases of Russian oil. India chafed at the move because no other top purchasers of Russian oil, like China or Turkiye, were hit with similar tariffs.

KATMANDU: Petitions have been filed in Nepal’s Supreme Court challenging the formation of an interim government and the dissolution of parliament following last month’s uprising, a court official said Wednesday.
The youth-led protests, which erupted on September 8 over a brief social media ban, economic hardship and corruption, quickly morphed into nationwide fury after a deadly crackdown.
Two days of violence left at least 73 people dead, the parliament and government offices burned down, and forced the government’s collapse.
Former chief justice Sushila Karki, 73, was nominated as prime minister and the parliament was dissolved shortly after.
But the legality of those moves is now under scrutiny.
“Eleven petitions have been filed stating that the formation of the new interim government and the dissolution of the lower house is unconstitutional,” Nirajan Pandey, the court’s information officer told AFP.
Pandey said procedures were underway to register the petitions, after which hearings would be scheduled.
A day after the dissolution, leaders of eight political parties issued a joint statement calling for the reinstatement of parliament.
“It was not envisioned in the constitution that such a situation would arise,” lawyer Dinesh Tripathi said.
“It is a challenge, but the court will decide.”
KP Sharma Oli, the 73-year-old Marxist who served as prime minister four times before his ouster, has called for the reinstatement of the parliament “that was unconstitutionally dissolved,” in an address to supporters earlier this month.
The Supreme Court building was also damaged by fire during the protests, and only resumed full operations on Tuesday, with many sections operating under a tent.