Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Friday that Russia would be in "deep troubles" if global buyers, including India, stopped buying its subsidized oil. For months now, Western countries have taken umbrage at India continuing to buy Russian oil despite sanctions on Moscow for its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. Prior to February, less than 1% of India's total imports consisted of Russian oil; now, it accounts for nearly 40% of the country's oil purchases.
Zelenskyy emphasized in his speech the large oil contracts between India and Russia. "Putin fears losing the economy, of which oil is the major asset. It is an economy hugely driven by energy exports." He added that by importing energy from Russia, countries are indirectly aiding the global effort to address the economic impact of the conflict.
These were remarks by Zelenskyy in an interaction with Indian media after his meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who became the first Indian prime minister to visit Ukraine since the East European country's independence in 1991. Indeed, Modi had visited Moscow in July to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, barely weeks before this visit to Ukraine.
He went on to mention the "very huge challenges" Russia is facing, showing that the economy—the very heavily dependent one on energy—is quite slow. He said Russia uses its oil revenues to pay for pensions and salaries instead of investing in technology.
After the bilateral talks, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said that India's energy trade with Russia indeed figured in the talks. He noted that the discussion covered the tightness of the energy market because of sanctions on several producers and underlined the need to keep oil prices reasonable and stable for the global economy.
According to a report by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air, India, the world's third-biggest oil consumer and importer, bought $2.8 billion worth of crude oil from Russia in July alone. It made Russia the top crude oil supplier to India, ahead of all others, after discounts that were offered following European countries reducing their purchases from Moscow in response to the invasion.
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