‘Perplexed at the logic’: EAM Jaishankar in Moscow points to China as biggest buyer of Russian crude

India's External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, talking about India's energy ties with Russia, has said today that it is China which is the largest buyer of Russian oil and not India.

"We are not the biggest purchasers of Russian oil, that is China. We are not the biggest purchasers of LNG, that is the European Union," Jaishankar told the press in Moscow where he is meeting his Russian counterpart, Sergei Lavrov.

Jaishankar's high-profile Russia visit comes amidst plummeting relations with the U.S. over New Delhi's decision to keep buying crude oil from Russia. U.S President Donald Trump had recently imposed over 50% tariffs on India for this action.

In the wake of the invasion of Ukraine, U.S. had imposed strong trade and economic sanctions on Russia.

Lavrov today had hailed India-Russia ties and signalled that Moscow would be keen to deepen energy cooperation with India.

It is important to note that both India and China are two of the key buyers of Russian crude, which contributes significantly to the Russian economy reeling under Western sanctions.

"We are not the country which has the biggest trade surge with Russia after 2022; I think there are some countries to the South. We are a country where the Americans have said for the last few years that we should do everything to stabilise the world energy market, including buying oil from Russia. Incidentally, we also buy oil from the U.S., and that amount has increased," Jaishankar said today.

After meeting Lavrov, Jaishankar also called on Russia's President, Vladimir Putin and the two met.

Lavrov today also had said that Putin would visit India by the end of this year, where he will meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Energy security and Indo-Russian relations are likely to be the key themes which could dominate Putin's visit.