Ready to fulfil India's energy needs, says Russian envoy; calls Western sanctions 'pressure tactics'

Amid intensifying Western regulatory scrutiny and secondary sanctions risks, Russian Ambassador to India Denis Alipov highlighted that Moscow remains entirely committed to fulfilling New Delhi's energy requirements.

He called the secondary sanctions and tariffs targeting Russian oil trade punitive "pressure tactics" undertaken by Western coalitions and pointed out that it is in disregard of constructive global engagement.

Alipov also turned the spotlight onto New Delhi’s independent foreign policy.

"The question is — how confident is India? India has shown that it's able to stand its ground and defend its national interests. And when we speak about the sanctions pertaining to oil trade, the tariffs are also related to the cooperation between Russia and India in oil supplies. These interests are paramount for India," Alipov emphasised.

Addressing Western restrictions, including secondary sanctions designed to curb third-party nations from dealing with major Russian oil producers, the envoy condemned the punitive frameworks meant to disrupt Russia's price-competitive market position.

"We would be ready to supply as much oil as India needs. Unfortunately, those who impose sanctions and tariffs have taken the path of pressure tactics instead of honest cooperation, which prevents those countries from offering a better deal to India in oil than us," he stated.

Warning against international attempts to isolate Russian energy exports, Alipov asserted that world supply chains cannot function effectively without Russian crude, emphasising that market fundamentals would ultimately preserve the trade.

"The world will not cope if Russian oil is excluded. The energy markets cannot afford that. Russian oil will stay in the market for India and other countries. We are interested in supplying oil to India. India is interested in buying that oil...," Alipov added.

The Ambassador’s remarks come against the backdrop of expanding secondary sanctions imposed by Western nations.

Unlike primary sanctions (which directly prohibit Western entities from trading with Russia), secondary sanctions target third-country entities—such as Indian refiners, shipping lines, and banks—by threatening them with financial blacklisting, loss of access to global banking channels, or punitive tariffs if they continue facilitating transactions with key Russian energy providers.

India has consistently maintained that its crude oil procurement strategy is driven purely by national interest, market affordability, and consumer price stability.

While Western measures aim to restrict Russian oil revenue, New Delhi continues to balance its energy security imperatives against international regulatory compliance.

Notably, India's External Affairs Minister Jaishankar on Thursday during a visit to Kyiv highlighted that the Russia-Ukraine war cannot be brought to an end by pressuring countries over their purchases of Russian oil, metals, minerals or fertiliser, saying diplomacy and negotiations are the only path to peace.

Meanwhile, responding to a question on whether India would reduce Russian oil imports if the United States imposed sanctions on countries buying it, Jaishankar said, "It is important that all of you get the challenges of providing for energy for 1.4 billion people at a time when the world energy situation is very, very difficult," he said.