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'Not heard from anyone except Trump': Lavrov on US claims of India halting Russian oil imports
“I have not heard such a statement from anyone else, including Prime Minister Modi and other Indian leaders,” Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov said.
Russia on Wednesday countered United States President Donald Trump's earlier statements that India would stop the purchase of energy from Moscow.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told the country's parliament that no one else except Trump had declared that New Delhi would stop purchasing oil from Russia.
“You mentioned that Donald Trump announced India's agreement to no longer purchase Russian oil. I have not heard such a statement from anyone else, including Prime Minister Modi and other Indian leaders,” Lavrov said in response to a lawmaker in the State Duma (Lower House), PTI reported.
US President Trump on Monday rolled back the additional 25 per cent tariffs imposed on Indian goods on account of New Delhi's purchase of Russian oil. Trump had earlier too said that India would halt the purchase of Russian oil, while making the announcement on the India-US trade deal.
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The US President has stated multiple times that the above is one of the conditions for the signing of the trade agreement between Washington and New Delhi.
However, there has been no official word from India on the matter. While New Delhi has signalled an openness to increasing energy purchase from US and Venezuela, commerce minister Piyush Goyal has remained diplomatic on the matter. “The trade deal anyway won't discuss who will buy what and from where,” he told ANI news agency earlier, asserting that such decisions are influenced by market conditions and national energy security.
Russia accuses US of using ‘coercive measures’
Lavrov's statement comes a day after Russia accused the US of attempting to prevent India and other countries from buying Russian oil, while saying that Washington was using “coercive” measures.
“(The US) is attempting to control our trade, investment cooperation, and military-technical ties with major strategic partners, such as India and other BRICS members,” Lavrov had told TV BRICS on Monday. “With the arrival of the (US President Donald) Trump administration, this struggle to suppress competitors became particularly pronounced and open,” the Russian Foreign Minister added.
He said that India and other partners were being “discouraged from purchasing affordable Russian energy”, which would force them to “buy American liquefied natural gas at significantly higher prices”, according to PTI.
Lavrov highlighted US sanctions and tariffs, while saying that America's “objective is global economic dominance”, which it implements “through a wide range of coercive measures inconsistent with fair competition.”
