U.S. asked us to buy energy from Russia to stabilise global energy market: Jaishankar in Moscow
Source: The Hindu | Original Published At: 2025-08-21 14:11:00 UTC
Key Points
- Jaishankar confirms U.S. requested India to buy Russian oil to stabilize global energy markets
- India-Russia discussions focus on trade corridors (INSTC, Chennai-Vladivostok, Northern Sea Route)
- Jaishankar raises concerns about Indians fraudulently recruited to fight in Ukraine
- New Indian consulates planned in Kazan and Yekaterinburg to boost people-to-people ties
- Bilateral trade imbalance addressed with emphasis on Indian exports in pharmaceuticals, agriculture, textiles
The United States asked India to do “everything to stabilise” the global energy market, “including buying oil from Russia”, said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar in Moscow on Thursday (August 21, 2025), defending New Delhi’s energy policy as India deals with the aftermath of penalty tariffs imposed by U.S. President Donald Trump.
In the Russian capital, Mr. Jaishankar met President Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and highlighted India’s plans to access Russian market and called for fast processing of the cases of Indians who were fraudulently recruited to fight for the Russian Army in Ukraine.
“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,” said Mr. Jaishankar in response to a question. “So honestly, we are very perplexed at the logic of the argument that you had referred to.”
Mr. Jaishankar met Mr. Putin on Thursday (August 21, 2025) afternoon and discussed the overall diplomatic setting between India and Russia. Mr. Jaishankar is the second high official from the Indian side to receive an audience with Mr. Putin this month. National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had met Mr. Putin on August 7 as trade ties between India and the United States were hit with uncertainties after President Trump imposed additional sanctions on India citing expanding energy trade between India and Russia.
Also Read | In Moscow, Jaishankar flags challenges that tariffs pose to India-Russia trade
Earlier in the day, Mr. Jaishankar met Mr. Lavrov, where he raised a number of issues including the necessity to focus on infrastructure and logistics to enhance overland and maritime connectivity between India and Russia and described India-Russia relations “among the steadiest of the major relationships in the world after the Second World War”. He identified sectors like pharmaceuticals, agriculture and textiles as areas where India can enhance exports to Russia and help in correcting the imbalance that exists in India-Russia trade.
Mr. Jaishankar also took up the opening of two new Indian consulates in Kazan and Yekaterinburg that will increase people-to-people ties and help in recruiting Indian manpower for Russian industrial sectors that are facing labour crunch in recent years. Also in the meeting, Mr. Jaishankar raised the urgency to take up the issue of Indians who were fraudulently recruited by transnational trafficking agents to fight in Ukraine. “We hope that the Russian side would expeditiously resolve these matters,” said Mr. Jaishankar.
The two Ministers surveyed India-Russia coordination in multilateral platforms like BRICS and Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO), as well as in the UN Security Council and discussed the latest developments concerning Ukraine, Israel-Palestine crisis and the situation in Afghanistan, where the Taliban administration had received de facto recognition from Moscow in July.
Mr. Jaishankar’s first meeting in Moscow was with First Deputy Prime Minister Denis Manturov on Wednesday when the two participated in the 26th Session of the India-Russia Inter-Governmental Commission for Trade, Economic, Scientific, Technological and Cultural Cooperation (IRIGC-TEC). In both the meetings, Mr Jaishankar highlighted the need to nurture the International North-South Transport Corridor, the Chennai-Vladivostok eastern maritime corridor, and cooperation in the Northern Sea Route.
“These corridors promise to deepen economic linkages, reduce transit times, and expand trade access across Eurasia and beyond,” said Mr. Jaishankar.