US, UK pressure India, China to cut Russian oil

Western powers have ramped up _pressure on Russia’s oil sales amid its war with Ukraine as US President Donald Trump said India would stop buying and Britain imposed sanctions on top Russian oil firms.

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Workers at an oil refinery in the western Indian state of Gujarat. Russia accounts for 36 per cent of India's oil imports, or some 1.75 million barrels per day, trade data showed.

(REUTERS FILE)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy is scheduled to meet Trump in Washington on Friday to push for military and energy support at a time when Kyiv and Moscow are escalating the war with attacks on energy infrastructure.

Indian officials are also in Washington for trade talks, with the U.S. having doubled tariffs on Indian goods and its negotiators saying curbing Russian oil imports would be key to sealing a deal.

Indian refiners are preparing to shift away from Russian oil, with a drop in purchases possible from December, three sources with knowledge of the matter said, though added they had not been formally instructed to stop buying.

India and China are the biggest buyers of Russian crude at discounted prices that Moscow has been forced to offer after losing sales to Europe following its inva sion of Ukraine in 2022.