Not looking to sanction India for buying Russian oil: US officials

Speaking at a press briefing, senior US diplomat Karen Donfried made clear that America was not looking to sanction India for its purchases of Russian oil. 

“I want to be clear, we are not looking to sanction India. Our partnership with India is one of our most consequential relationships,” said Donfried, who also serves as Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs. 

Donfired was responding to queries by the press on the statements made by Oleksander Merezhko, a senior Ukrainian lawmaker who called for India to be sanctioned if it continued purchases of Russian oil. 

In recent months, Indian purchases of Russian oil have increased steadily with Moscow displacing traditional heavyweights like Iraq and Saudi Arabia to become India’s top supplier of oil. According to numerous reports, the sale of oil to India and China may be helping Russia stay afloat even as powers like the United States and the European Union work to shrink Moscow’s oil revenues. 

Assistant-Secretary of State for Energy Resources Geoffrey Pyatt also weighed in on reports that the West’s price cap scheme on Russian oil was underperforming. 

“Our very strong conclusion, including from our best global market experts at the Treasury with the price cap coalition is working. The price cap is having the intended effect and you only need to look at the dramatic spread between the Urals price of crude oil today and the global market price to see that we are achieving our goal of minimizing the resources which Russia receives from its oil,” said Pyatt, who has also served in New Delhi as Deputy Chief of Mission at the American Embassy. 

Pyatt also drew attention to a report by the International Energy Agency which estimates that Russia’s oil and gas revenues by 50% by the end of the decade.