'US Forcing India To Buy Costly Oil': Russia Slams Trump's 'Energy Ban'

Russia has slammed the Donald Trump administration in the United States for trying to block India and other countries from buying Russian oil. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov accused Team Trump of using "coercive" measures like tariffs, sanctions, and direct prohibitions to "achieve economic dominance."

Talking to TV BRICS, the Russian foreign minister claimed that during the Alaska talks between Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin last year, Moscow had accepted the US proposal on Ukraine. He said that despite accepting US terms, Washington imposed new sanctions on Moscow and tried to ban other nations from buying Russian energy. 

What Lavrov Said

"They (US) tell us that the Ukraine problem should be resolved. In Anchorage, we accepted the US proposal... The US position was important to us. By accepting their proposal, we seem to have completed the task of resolving the Ukrainian issue and moving on to a dull-scale, broad-based, and mutually beneficial cooperation," he said, according to news agency Sputnik.

"So far, the reality is quite the opposite. New sanctions are imposed, and a 'war' against tankers in the open sea is being waged in violation of the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. They are trying to ban India and our other partners from buying cheap, affordable Russian energy resources (Europe has long been banned) and are forcing them to buy US LNG (liquefied natural gas) at exorbitant prices," the Putin aide said. 

Lavrov claimed that Washington's objective is 'achieving economic domination' by controlling the energy routes. Calling the measures coercive and incompatible with fair competition, Lavrov said that the use of tariffs, sanctions, direct prohibitions, and forbidding some nations from engaging with others.

"We have to take all of this into account while remaining open, just like India, China, Indonesia, and Brazil, to cooperation with all countries, including major powers such as the United States. We are in a situation where the Americans themselves are creating artificial obstacles along the way," he said.

Time Of Russian Attack

Russia's big statement came after Trump said that under the new India-US trade deal, New Delhi has agreed to stop its Russian oil trade. India has, however, maintained that "national interest" would continue to guide its energy-related decisions, underlining that the key drivers of the country's energy policy are "adequate availability, fair pricing, and reliability of supply."

The foreign ministry noted India is a net importer in the oil and gas sector and, as a developing economy, must remain conscious of its resource availability and the impact of import dependence on inflation. It added that safeguarding the interests of Indian consumers remains a top priority for the government.