‘They are going to stop... it’s a process’: Trump repeats claim India will cut Russian oil imports by year-end

PM Modi with US President Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday reiterated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him India would gradually stop purchasing oil from Russia, even as Washington imposed sweeping new sanctions on Moscow’s top energy firms.

“India, as you know, has told me they are going to stop… It’s a process. You can’t just stop (buying oil from Russia). By the end of the year, they’ll be down to almost nothing, almost 40% of the oil. India, they’ve been great. Spoke to Prime Minister Modi yesterday.
They’ve been absolutely great,” Trump told reporters in Washington.

#WATCH | Washington DC | Regarding his upcoming meetign with Chinese President Xi, US President Donald Trump says, "India, as you know, has told me they are going to stop...it's a process. You can't just stop (buying oil from Russia). By the end of the year, they'll be down to… pic.twitter.com/XXdL1ETOZf

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— ANI (@ANI) October 22, 2025

His remarks came hours after the US Treasury Department announced sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies, Rosneft and Lukoil, accusing them of fueling President Vladimir Putin’s war effort in Ukraine.

“The US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is imposing further sanctions as a result of Russia’s lack of serious commitment to a peace process to end the war in Ukraine,” the department said in a statement. “Today’s actions increase pressure on Russia’s energy sector and degrade the Kremlin’s ability to raise revenue for its war machine and support its weakened economy.”

Trump hailed the move as “a very big day,” telling reporters, “These are tremendous sanctions… those are against their two big oil companies. We hope that the war will be settled.”

He also suggested that his upcoming meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping would focus on finding a path to end the conflict in Ukraine. “Because of Biden and Obama, China and Russia got forced together. They should never have been forced together… What I’ll really be talking to him about is how we end the war with Russia and Ukraine,” he said.

Trump had earlier said he and Russian President Vladimir Putin were scheduled to meet in Budapest “within two weeks or so,” but by Tuesday, the White House confirmed that the meeting would no longer take place.