Washington: The United States has ruled out any further exemptions from sanctions on purchases of Russian or Iranian oil, indicating it will not extend the temporary waiver earlier granted to India.
On March 5, the US issued a 30 day sanctions waiver to India, allowing the country to continue buying Russian oil despite restrictions imposed over the Ukraine war. A few days later, Washington extended the same waiver to a few other nations, but that licence expired on April 11 and will not be renewed.
At a White House press conference on Wednesday, April 15, US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent confirmed the decision, stating that the general licences covering Russian and Iranian oil shipments already at sea before March 11 had now been fully utilised and would not be extended.
India’s crude oil imports from Russia surged in March, with purchases more than tripling to about 5.3 billion euros as volumes doubled and higher global oil prices pushed up the import bill. According to a report by the European think tank Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA), India re emerged as a major buyer after a dip in February, ranking as the second largest importer of Russian fossil fuels in March 2026.
The total value of Indian imports of Russian hydrocarbons reached around 5.8 billion euros, with crude oil accounting for 91 per cent of that, or roughly 5.3 billion euros; the rest mainly consisted of coal and refined oil products.
Explaining the earlier waiver, US Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Washington had asked New Delhi to buy Russian oil to help “tamp down” concerns about supply shortages and price spikes amid the ongoing conflict in West Asia. He described the move as a short term, pragmatic measure to stabilise global energy markets and emphasised that it did not reflect any shift in the US stance toward Russia or its sanctions policy.
(Inputs from PTI)