Iran-US war: The real reason Trump is letting India buy Russian oil again

The US has temporarily allowed India to accept Russian oil already at sea to help maintain global energy supplies during disruptions linked to the conflict involving Iran, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt said, as reported by PTI.

Leavitt added that the short-term measure is unlikely to provide significant financial benefit to Russia.

Here's what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said

US President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the whole national security team “came to this decision because our allies in India have been good actors and have previously stopped buying sanctioned Russian oil,” Leavitt told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.

"So as we work to appease this temporary gap of oil supply around the world because of the Iranians, we have temporarily permitted them (India) to accept that Russian oil. And this Russian oil was already at sea. It was already out on the water. So this short-term measure, we do not believe it will provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government at this time," she said.

Leavitt was responding to a question on the US issuing a 30-day waiver to India to purchase Russian oil in the backdrop of the escalating West Asia conflict.

Why US allow India to buy Russian oil?

Amid the conflict with Iran, the US said last week it was issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil.

United States Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent told FOX News, “They (Indians) stopped buying Russian Oil when we ordered them, now we are allowing them to accept Russian Oil to create supply.”

Trump had imposed 25% punitive tariffs on India over its purchases of Russian oil, with his administration arguing that New Delhi’s imports were helping finance Russia’s war effort against Ukraine.

Last month, the US and India announced they had prepared a framework for an interim trade agreement, and Trump issued an Executive Order removing the 25% tariffs on New Delhi, noting the latter's commitment to stop directly or indirectly importing energy from Moscow and purchasing American energy products.

“Allowing our friends in India…”

Energy Secretary Chris Wright had said in a post on X last Friday that the US is "allowing our friends in India" to take the Russian oil already on ships around southern Asia, refine it and move the stocks into the market quickly in order to ensure a flowing supply and ease pressure amid the ongoing US-Israel war against Iran.

"We have implemented short-term measures to help keep oil prices down. We are allowing our friends in India to take oil that is already on ships, refine it, and move those barrels into the market quickly. A practical way to get supply flowing and ease pressure," Wright said.  

In an interview with ABC News Live, Wright said long-term oil supplies are "abundant", and there are no worries regarding that, but in the short term, there is a need to get oil on the market.

“But as oil gets bid up a little bit because of those constraints coming out of the Strait of Hormuz, we are taking a short-term action to say all this floating Russian oil storage that is around southern Asia, it is China just backed up, China does not treat their suppliers well, so there is a bunch of floating barrels just sitting there. We have reached out to our friends in India and said, 'Buy that oil. Bring it into your refineries'. That pulls stored oil immediately into Indian refineries and releases the pressure on other refineries around the world to buy oil that they are no longer competing with the Indians for in that marketplace,” Wright said.

“So we have a number of measures like that that are short-term and temporary. This is no change in policy towards Russia. This is a very brief change in policy just to keep oil prices down a little bit better than we could otherwise,” he added.

Wright had also said that he, as well as Bessent, had spoken with authorities in India regarding purchasing Russian oil already floating on waterways, waiting to be unloaded at Chinese refineries, and transporting it to Indian refineries with an aim to "tamp" down concerns over oil shortage and price increases amid the West Asia conflict.

"The United States' policy towards Russia has not changed at all. India is very clear on that," Wright said in an interview with CNN on Sunday.

Asked whether the Treasury Department’s 30-day waiver allowing Indian refiners to buy Russian oil during the US–Israel conflict with Iran undermined the Trump administration’s effort to isolate Russia, Energy Secretary Chris Wright said it did not.

He said India has already replaced most of its Russian oil imports and is increasing purchases from the United States, Venezuela, and other suppliers.

"India has been a great partner through this. But I did call up the Indians, as did Treasury Secretary Bessent, and said, 'Look, there is a whole bunch of oil that is floating to wait to unload at Chinese refineries'.

"Instead of having it wait six weeks to unload there, let us just pull that oil forward, have it land in Indian refineries and tamp this fear of shortage of oil, tamp the price spikes and the concerns we see in the marketplace. It is just a pragmatic effort that has a short time span. No change in policy towards Russia," he said.

(With inputs from agencies)