‘Can buy from any nation, not Russia’: US energy secretary on India's oil purchase, tariffs

United States secretarial assistant of vim Chris willard huntington wright clarified the US' place on India's oil color trade and said that India can buy oil from any nation on earth, just not Russia.

He also said that India has made a trade-off to buy cheaper oil from Russia and “looking the other way” while the purchase is “giving money to a guy (Putin) who's murdering thousands of people every week.”

“There are lots of oil exporters in the world. India doesn't need to buy Russian oil. India buys Russian oil because it is cheaper. Nobody wants to buy Russian oil; they have to sell it at a discount. India has decided to make the trade-off to buy cheaper oil and look the other way, which is giving money to a guy who's murdering thousands of people every week,” Wright said while answering a question during the press conference.

He also added that the United States does not want to “punish” India but just end the war in Ukraine and also suggested the India could buy oil from the US.

"We wish India would work with us to buy (oil). You can buy oil from every nation on the earth, just not Russian oil. That's our position. America has oil to sell, so does everybody else. We don't want to punish India. We want to end the war, and we want to grow our relations with India...," he said.

Also read: 'Huge fan of India, but...': US energy secretary flags Russian oil friction

Chris Wright's remarks are the latest in the series of US officials talking about US President Donald Trump's punishing 50 per cent tariffs on India, half of which are a penalty for buying oil from Russia.

Wright also said that he is a “huge fan” of India and that the US wants to expand energy trade with India, however, the latter is “caught up in the middle of another issue”, seemingly referring to the Russian war in Ukraine.

Echoing President Trump's reasoning of punishing India with steep tariffs for doing business with Russia, Wright said that Trump's “greatest passion is peace" and that India's purchase of Russia's sanctioned oil, along with China and Turkey, helps fund the war in Ukraine.

“I am a huge fan of India. We love India. We look forward to more energy trade, more interactions back and forth with India and then India is caught up in the middle of another issue. President Trump's greatest passion is peace in the world...The Russian war in Ukraine, of course, is brutal. We all want to see it come to an end. But where does the sanctioned Russian oil go? It goes to China, India, and Turkiye and that helps Russia fund that war,” Wright said.

His remarks come after Trump accused India and China of being the "primary funders" of the Ukraine war on Tuesday during his address at the United Nations General Assembly.

Ever since the US has accused of India of funding the war in Ukraine, India has defended its oil purchase from Russia as driven by market forces.

The trade talks between India and the US are however back on track.

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