The US and the European Union are hitting Russia with another round of sanctions, aiming to cut into oil and gas export earnings that fund Moscow's war against Ukraine. More than 3 1/2 years into the war, the effort remains a cat-and-mouse game, with Russia finding new ways to get around sanctions, and Washington and Brussels adding new ones and looking for ways to plug enforcement gaps. The chief target of the latest round: Russia's biggest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil. New US Treasury sanctions threaten their customers in India and China with retaliation that could include being sanctioned themselves. Meanwhile, the EU is phasing out by the end of next year those shipments of Russian liquefied natural gas that come by ship, and is going after cryptocurrency issuers, platforms and exchanges that Russia has used to skirt restrictions on its financial dealings with the outside world. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said the move aimed to push Russian President Vladimir Puti
Russia's share in India's total fertiliser imports has grown from 7.68 per cent in 2017-18 to almost 27 per cent in 2023-24
US sanctions against two of Russia's largest oil companies are expected to impact Reliance Industries' crude imports from Russia, while state-run refiners may continue purchases through intermediary traders for now. Industry sources said public-sector units are assessing compliance risks but are unlikely to halt Russian crude flows immediately as they buy almost all of their needs from traders, mostly European (who are out of the sanctions net). Billionaire Mukesh Ambani's Reliance Industries Ltd - India's largest buyer of Russian crude, accounting for roughly half of the country's 1.7 million barrels per day of imports from Moscow - may however have to recalibrate its imports as it buys crude oil directly from Russia's Rosneft, they said. Reliance had in December 2024 signed a term deal with Russia's Rosneft - now sanctioned - to import as much as 500,000 barrels per day of Russian oil for 25 years. It also buys oil from intermediaries. The company did not immediately respond to
Latest sanctions will mean that orders due to be placed over the coming week - for crude that will load in November and deliver in December - will now be overwhelmingly from other destinations
US President Donald Trump said India will sharply reduce Russian oil imports by the end of the year, following new US sanctions on Moscow's major oil firms
US President Trump and PM Modi discuss trade, India's Russian oil imports, and regional issues in Diwali call; PM reiterates India-US partnership and anti-terror stance
PM Modi responded to President Donald Trump's Diwali wishes, saying India and the US share strong democratic values and should continue working together for peace and against terrorism
Blocked from international markets by EU sanctions, the Russian-owned refinery has diverted more fuel to India and sought new export customers through various workarounds
Discounts on Urals crude loading in November are $2-to-$2.50 a barrel to Dated Brent, making it attractive
Jamieson Greer's remarks come at a time when India and the US have resumed negotiations to address the trade barriers after President Donald Trump imposed a 50 per cent tariff on India
In 2023, Indian state refiners made some payments for Russian oil in yuan, but they stopped due to displeasure from the Indian government during a period of heightened tensions with Beijing
The PMO said that the two leaders reviewed the progress in the bilateral agenda and reaffirmed their commitment to further deepen the "special and privileged strategic partnership"
Several Middle Eastern and Asian economies, including China, Pakistan, and Iran, are turning to barter trade to avoid the impact of secondary sanctions
Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his anticipation for his upcoming visit to India in early December and has ordered the government to devise measures to soften the trade imbalance with India due to the heavy import of crude by New Delhi. Speaking at the international Valdai discussion forum of security and geopolitical experts from 140 countries, including India, in the Black Sea resort of Sochi in South Russia on Thursday evening, Putin underlined that Russia and India have never had any problems or tensions between them and always took actions by keeping in view their sensitivities. "We have never had any problems or interstate tensions with India. Never," the Russian leader noted. Putin highlighted the "special" nature of Russia-India relations since the days of the Soviet Union, when India was fighting for its independence. "In India, they remember this, they know it, and they value it. We appreciate that India has not forgotten it," he declared. He referred to Prime
India's state oil companies plan to import up to three large US LPG cargoes per month in 2026, marking the country's first long-term US supply deal
Crude oil loading refers to volumes of oil loaded at a producing country's port for respective destinations. Oil shipments loaded in the US typically take around two months for delivery in India
During the last month, while the state-run refiners were cutting their reliance on Russian crude, private players were stepping up procurement
Russia fully respects India's national interests and the independent foreign policy being pursued by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said, asserting that India's ties with the US or any other country cannot be a benchmark for New Delhi-Moscow ties. Lavrov, who addressed the UN General Assembly shortly before External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's speech at the high-level General Debate, said India and Russia share a "particularly privileged strategic partnership". These situations that might arise between India and the United States or India and any other country, I can't consider them a criteria for relations between India and Russia, he said at a press conference here on Saturday. Lavrov was responding to a question on India's continued imports of Russian oil despite US pressure on countries to reduce such purchases, and how Moscow views its ties with New Delhi in this context. "We have full respect for the national interests of India, f
India has called upon Russia to release 27 more Indian nationals who were recently recruited into the Russian military. Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal on Friday said New Delhi has come to know that more Indians are working with the Russian military, with new inputs coming from their families. "As per our information, 27 Indian nationals are presently serving in the Russian army. We are also in close touch with their family members in the matter," Jaiswal said at his weekly media briefing. "We once again strongly urge all Indian nationals to stay away from the offers being made to serve in the Russian army as they are fraught with danger and risk to life," he added. Jaiswal said India has strongly taken up the matter with Russian authorities. "We have strongly raised this matter with Russian authorities in Moscow and with the Russian embassy in New Delhi, and asked for them to be freed as soon as possible," he said. "We are trying to get them out,"
The MEA dismissed Nato Secretary-General Mark Rutte's claim that PM Modi had called Putin to discuss its Ukraine strategy after being hit by US tariffs over purchase of Russian crude