India has stated that it purchased russian oil at the request of the US

This was stated by India’s Minister of External Affairs, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar.

“At the time, the US explicitly asked India to buy russian oil in order to stabilise the oil market,” Jaishankar said on Thursday at an event in Kulantaranta, Finland. “I buy oil based on cost and availability.”

After the US imposed sanctions on russia in 2022 over its invasion of Ukraine and set a price cap on its oil, India became a major buyer. “At that time, a significant portion of the oil available on the market was from russia, because Europeans were buying up Middle Eastern oil, which was our traditional supplier,” he said. “Circumstances pushed us in a certain direction.”

Jaishankar also criticised the inconsistency of US sanctions against russian oil. “Let’s not pretend this is about some grand principle,” he said. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to make a show of moralising on this issue.”

Source: Ekonomichna Pravda