Trump says Modi pledges to stop buying Russian oil

WASHINGTON — US President Donald Trump says India's Prime Minister Narendra Modi has pledged to stop buying oil from Russia as Washington intensifies efforts to cut off Moscow's energy revenues.

Trump has recently targeted India for its Russian oil purchases, imposing tariffs on Indian exports to the US to discourage the country's crude buying as he seeks to pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.

"So I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he (Modi) assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia," Trump told reporters during a White House event.

The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to emailed questions about whether Modi had made such a commitment to Trump.

India's foreign ministry said on Thursday that the government's consistent priority was to safeguard the interests of Indian consumers in a volatile energy environment.

"Ensuring stable energy prices and supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy," Randhir Jaiswal, a ministry spokesman, said.

"This includes broad basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions."

India's Trade Secretary Rajesh Agarwal said on Wednesday that India was willing to increase its purchases of US oil and natural gas if prices were competitive.

Russia is India's top oil supplier. Moscow exported 1.62 million barrels a day to India last month, about one third of the country's oil imports.

Some Indian refiners are preparing to cut Russian oil imports, three sources told Reuters on Thursday.

The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that Moscow was able to supply high-quality oil at lower prices to countries that Trump is trying to persuade to stop buying Russian oil.

The principles of free trade would be violated if such countries were deprived of the right to buy what they wanted, Peskov said.

Agencies