India prepares to buy crude from Russia; US says no breach of sanctions, 'but history will judge'

The United States subtly nudged India to publicly call out Russian President Vladimir Putin for launching military operations in Ukraine, reminding that history would remember where the nations stood on the issue of the aggression against the East European nation.

President Joe Biden's administration, however, also stated that if New Delhi accepted Moscow's offer to supply crude oil at a discounted rate, it would not be a violation of the sanctions the United States had imposed on Russia in the wake of its aggression against Ukraine.

“Well, our message to any country continues to be that, obviously, abide by the sanctions, but — that we have put in place and recommended. I don’t believe this would be violating that,” Biden's Press Secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at the White House on Wednesday.

She was responding to a question on the US response to reports about the possibility of India accepting Russia's offer to supply crude oil at a discounted price.

“I don’t believe this would be violating that,” she said.

“But also think about where you want to stand when the history books are written in this moment in time. And support for the Russian leadership is support for an invasion that obviously is having a devastating impact.” added Psaki.

Also Read | India keen on taking Russian oil on discount but working on nitty-gritties

Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri told the Rajya Sabha on Tuesday that he had a discussion “at the appropriate level” of the government of the Russian Federation regarding India importing crude oil from Russia at a discounted rate. He earlier had a phone-call with Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak.

India is considering to buy at least 35 lakh barrels of crude oil from Russia at a heavily discounted price.

Biden's administration banned oil imports from, Russia to the US. The European Union issued sanctions against some companies but refrained from banning the purchase of oil from Russia.

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Puri said that India and Russia were holding discussions on several other issues to remove the hurdles in the way to import oil from the sanction-hit nation, including insurance, freight and payment arrangement.

Delhi has been treading cautiously on Russia’s build-up against Ukraine over the past few weeks, notwithstanding pressure from the US and other western nations. Just hours before Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine on February 24, India reiterated at an emergency meeting of the United Nations Security Council that it was in favour of urgent de-escalation of tension and sustained and focused diplomatic efforts to bridge divergent interests.

But even after Putin announced the launch of military operations in Ukraine, New Delhi did not condemn the move – ostensibly in view of decades-old strategic partnership between India and Russia and India's continued dependence on military hardware from Russia.

India has also been abstaining from voting on resolutions sponsored or supported by the US and other western nations at the United Nations Security Council and the General Assembly against Russia.

New Delhi also rejected the US bid to draw a parallel between China's aggression against India and Russia's military operations in Ukraine.

Dr Ami Bera, an Indian-American member of the US Congress, of late opposed to India contemplating buying oil from Russia at a discounted rate.

“If reports are accurate and India makes this decision to buy Russian oil at a discounted price, New Delhi would be choosing to side with Vladimir Putin at a pivotal moment in history when countries across the world are united in support of the Ukrainian people and against Russia's deadly invasion,” said Bera, a lawmaker of the Democratic Party's lawmaker said.

"As the world's largest democracy and as a leader of the Quad, India has a responsibility to ensure its actions do not directly or indirectly support Putin and his invasion," Bera said in a statement.

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