Russia refuses oil sales to India on discounted price
In a sudden turn of events, Russia has refused to supply oil to India on a discounted price, media reports said
[This image of Indian Prime Minister Modi with Russian President Vladimir Putin in a same car was widely circulated as a moment shwoing strong “ties” between the two]
Moscow/New Delhi: In a sudden turn of events, Russia has refused to supply oil to India on a discounted price, media reports said.
The Russian oil supply to India has been in news since Ukraine war when the later bought millions of barrels of oil from Russia on a heavily discounted price.
Nonetheless, the benefit of the Russian oil bought on discounted rate was not passed on to the Indian consumers. Instead, it benefited solely some crony capitalists.
Then came U.S. President Donald Trump, who announced a huge tariff on India, publicly declaring because the country was buying oil from Russia despite sanctions.
Owing to the continuous pressure from the United States, India agreed to stop buying oil from Russia about a month before U.S.-Israel joint war against Iran. In an agreement between the two countries, the U.S. said it will keep a check on India, and re-impose tariff if it buys oil from Russia.
However, after the fuel shortage because of the ongoing war in the Middle East, India again turned to Russia to buy oil, this too after, as per the White House, the United States allowed India to “do so for 30 days.”
"Friendship no more"
Russia got infuriated because of India’s poor handling of the entire issue and has now said the discount offered to India earlier is not applicable any more.
“You stopped buying our oil without informing us… Now suddenly you want it again?” Putin said in remarks directed at the Indian government.
“Now it’s business, not friendship”, he bluntly said, according to bne IntelliNews.
Putin said any future oil sales to India would be conducted on purely commercial terms rather than at the previous preferential prices.
India has not commented on the report.
Interestingly, the White House’s claim that the United States “permitted India to buy” oil from Russia has already sparked outrage against the Modi government.
Meanwhile, the crude oil which was selling at $66-67 per barrel before February 28, 2026 when Iran was attacked by US and Israeli missiles, is now trading at $94-95 per barrel after reaching a peak price of $119.48 per barrel two days ago.
Russia earlier offerd India a discount of $10 to $13 per barrel below Dated Brent. The discount took Russia's oil supply to India to more than 40%.
So, the bootom line is that India is paying a premium for the same Urals crude it used to get at $10–13 discount just 10 days ago.
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