The US embassy and the EU’s delegation in New Delhi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Both the US and EU have sharply scaled back their trade ties with Russia since it launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
In 2021, Russia was the EU’s fifth-largest trading partner, with goods exchanged worth €258 billion, according to the EU executive European Commission.
SUDDEN RIFT
The sudden rift between India and the US has been deepening since Jul 31, when Trump announced a 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods being shipped to the US and for the first time threatened unspecified penalties for buying Russian oil.
India is one of the biggest buyers of crude from Russia, importing about 1.75 million barrels per day from January to June this year, up 1 per cent from a year ago.
Indian refiner Nayara Energy, a major buyer of Russian oil, which is majority owned by Russian entities including oil major Rosneft, was subjected to EU sanctions targeting Russia’s oil and energy industry in July.
India has said it does not support “unilateral sanctions” by the EU.
