Trump sticks to claim that India will cut Russian crude purchase; 'another way of exerting pressure on Russia for ceasefire': expert

Once again reiterating his assertion that India has agreed to reduce its purchase of Russian crude, US President Donald Trump on Thursday added a specific figure this time, claiming that "By the end of the year, they'll be down to almost nothing, about 40 percent of the (Russian) oil," Hindustan Times reported on Thursday.

The remarks came as Washington announced new sanctions targeting Russia's two largest oil companies after Trump announced to shelve a planned meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Budapest. Chinese analyst said invoking the crude purchase issue is also a way of exerting pressure on Moscow.

"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)," Trump said in his fresh remarks from the White House, further recalling that he spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi a day earlier, according to Hindustan Times.

On Tuesday, the US president said Modi had assured him during a phone call that Delhi "was not going to buy much oil from Russia." Modi later acknowledged Trump's call in a social media post, but didn't comment on Russian oil, BBC reported.

The Indian foreign ministry said it was "not aware" of any phone call between the leaders. On Wednesday, an official at the ministry told media that it had no new comment on Trump's latest remarks, per the BBC.

Mint reported on Wednesday that India and the US are closing in on a long-pending trade deal that could slash the current tariffs for Indian exports to 15-16 percent from a punishing 50 percent, citing three people aware of the matter. The report also suggested India may agree to gradually scale back its imports of Russian oil.

Trump has for months been calling on India to cease purchasing Russian oil, citing India's continued purchases of cheap Russian oil in escalating his trade war. In August, Trump announced a 25 percent tariff on India as a penalty for importing Russian oil and gas, building on a previously announced 25 percent tariff rate.

The fact that New Delhi remained unresponsive despite repeated claims by the US to have reached a consensus with India suggests that the two sides have yet to reach an agreement, Qian Feng, director of the research department at the National Strategy Institute at Tsinghua University, told the Global Times on Thursday.

"India has refrained from further comment mainly because an outright denial of Trump's remarks could offend the US, which would be detrimental to India-US alliance and ongoing trade talks; yet a direct acknowledgment would also affect India's relations with Russia. As a result, India can only 'play tai chi,' maintaining strategic ambiguity in its response," Qian said.

The expert added that a complete cutoff of Russian oil purchases from India is unlikely, but under continuous US pressure, India may opt to make moderate reductions, such as lowering its imports to some extent.

Trump's fresh remarks on Thursday came after the US announced new sanctions targeting Russia's two largest oil companies - Rosneft and Lukoil - in an effort to pressure Moscow to negotiate a peace deal in Ukraine.

A day earlier, Trump canceled a planned meeting with Putin in Budapest.

Trump's latest move is also closely linked to the Russia-Ukraine situation, Qian noted. As Washington found Moscow making no concessions on ceasefire terms, the Trump administration has intensified pressure - on one hand promoting a new round of sanctions against Russia, and on the other, once again invoking the India crude purchase issue as another means of exerting pressure on Moscow, Qian said.