Did Trump Lie Again? Russia Says "India Never Said It Would Stop Buying Our Oil"

[Financial News]


Trump announced that, because India had decided to halt purchases of Russian oil, Washington would remove the additional 25% tariff and lower mutual tariffs from 25% to 18%. His statement has sparked controversy.
Russia on March 4 (local time) flatly rejected Trump’s announcement, saying it had received no notification from India that it would stop buying Russian oil.
Experts believe Trump likely exaggerated the facts yet again and simply went ahead with the claim. They say he appears to have inflated India’s reduction in Russian oil imports into a promise to end imports altogether.

Consumer News and Business Channel (CNBC), citing a report from Russia’s RIA Novosti, reported that Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov pushed back against Trump’s assertion.
Peskov said, "We have not yet heard any explanation on this matter from New Delhi," suggesting that the claim India has pledged to ban imports of Russian oil may be false.
He added, "We respect the bilateral relationship between the United States and India," but went on to say, "I would also like to stress that we must not overlook the importance of improving the strategic partnership between Russia and India." In other words, Moscow does not expect India to risk damaging ties with Russia by cutting off oil imports.
Peskov emphasized that the strategic partnership between Russia and India is one of the most important items on the agenda and said both sides are working to strengthen their relationship.
Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak, a former energy minister, noted that for now there is only Trump’s public statement, and said Moscow is watching to see how the situation develops. Novak also argued that, for economic reasons, it would be difficult for India to turn away from cheap Russian oil, and even if it did halt imports as Trump claimed, Russia would still have plenty of buyers.
He stressed that global demand for Russian oil is strong and that supply will always find buyers.

Trump announced the trade deal with India on his social media platform Truth Social, and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi confirmed it on X. Modi said he was pleased that tariffs would fall to 18%.
However, there was no mention of a decision to halt imports of Russian oil.
Analysts also say it will be difficult for India to cut off Russian oil completely.
They note that while India has clearly reduced some imports under the impact of Washington’s 25% retaliatory tariffs, it is almost impossible for the country—Russia’s biggest customer since the war in Ukraine began in 2022—to stop imports entirely.
Evan Feigenbaum, vice president at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, stated in an analysis published on March 2 that it is highly unlikely the Indian government has made any explicit promise of that kind.
Feigenbaum said, "The two countries have deep historical and emotional ties, so India cannot simply cut Russia off just because of U.S. pressure."
He also predicted that for India, which champions an independent foreign policy, Russia is as important as the United States. New Delhi therefore would not want to sever relations by cutting off oil imports, a key source of war financing for Moscow.
Credit rating agency Moody's pointed to economic reasons.
Moody's assessed that if India were to completely halt imports of Russian oil, manufacturing costs would soar and consumer prices would spike, making Trump’s claim lack credibility.
On March 3, Moody's said that although India has reduced imports of Russian oil in recent months, there will be no immediate halt that would damage the country’s economic growth. Given that India is one of the world’s largest oil importers, Moody's concluded that it cannot afford to cut off Russian oil at the risk of higher inflation.

dympna@fnnews.com Song Kyung-jae Reporter