US ‘comfortable’ with India buying Russian oil, no sanctions: report
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New Delhi: The US will go easy on India despite openly dismissing its demand not to buy Russian oil.
Reports say that the US is not gearing up for sanctioning India over its purchase of oil from Russia.
Karen Donfried, US Assistant Secretary of State for European and Eurasian Affairs, said as much on Wednesday.
India’s buying of Russian oil earlier mattered the US most, prompting the US to request India’s support for sanction on Russia.
Donfried also said her country’s relation with India is ‘most consequential’, adding that policy approach may differ but both countries uphold the order based on international rules.
In a more candid avowal, the US Assistant Secretary of State for Energy Resources, Geoffery Pyatt said the US is "comfortable" with India buying Russian oil.
He also said energy security is invariably part of most bilateral discussions lately.
Meanwhile, the senior US diplomats said the price cap imposed on Russian oil was an opportunity for India, to negotiate a better price.
However, the price capping was meant to cut the revenue of Russia from oil sale in the thick of its continued assault on Ukraine.
The US diplomats reportedly said that the sanctions are having their intended impact.
India has increased its purchase of cheap Russian oil and refining it into fuel for Europe and the US.
Russia is neck deep in trouble since attacking Ukraine alongside facing issues stemming from the US sanctions, which forced it to sell oil to India at a cheap rate.
US National Security Council spokesman John Kirby earlier reportedly said the price cap "will lock in the discount on Russian oil".