US Tries to Persuade India to Swap Russian Oil for Venezuelan Crude
US Ambassador Sergio Gor told reporters in New Delhi on Friday that "the [US] Department of Energy is speaking to the [Indian] Ministry of Energy" about buying Venezuelan oil, adding that "we're hoping to have some news of that very soon."
The diplomatic push follows Washington's decision to grant licenses to two trading houses to distribute Venezuelan oil — a move made possible after the US secured a supply arrangement with interim president Delcy Rodriguez following the removal of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro in early January.
India and China emerged as Russia's dominant oil customers after the US and EU imposed sweeping sanctions on Moscow in 2022 in response to the escalation of the conflict in Ukraine, allowing both nations to absorb discounted Russian crude shunned by Western buyers.
Earlier this month, President Donald Trump signed an executive order scrapping the 25% tariff previously levied on India for purchasing Russian oil, claiming New Delhi had "agreed to stop" such imports. Ambassador Gor echoed that assertion: "On the oil, there's an agreement... We have seen India diversify on their oil. There is a commitment. This is not about India. The US doesn't want anyone buying Russian oil."
New Delhi, however, has offered no such confirmation. Indian Foreign Minister S. Jaishankar, speaking at the Munich Security Conference last week, made clear that India operates on the principle of "strategic autonomy," with energy decisions made based on what leaders "feel are in their best interest," after weighing costs and risks.
Moscow, too, pushed back on the narrative. Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova told journalists Wednesday that oil trade is governed purely by commercial logic. "I think that neither we nor you have a reason to believe that India has revised its approach," she stressed, adding that Russia has received no indication that New Delhi intends to curtail purchases of Russian crude.
The dispute sits within a broader confrontation over global energy dominance. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused Washington earlier in February of deploying "coercive measures that are incompatible with fair competition" as part of a strategy to control key international energy corridors and "dominate the world economy."
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