Did India Agree to Halt Russian Oil Purchases? Marco Rubio Challenges Trump's Claim

New Delhi (The Uttam Hindu): For the past few days, US President Donald Trump has been making lofty claims about India-Russia oil trade. However, India has consistently denied these claims. Now, Trump's Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has exposed his claims.

The media asked the US Secretary of State, "Do you think India would actually be willing to stop buying Russian oil in order to secure a comprehensive trade deal with the US?" To this, the US Secretary of State said, "I think India has already shown an interest in changing its oil portfolio and deciding who it buys oil from, so that's all India needs."

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said, "So, if they diversify their portfolio, the more they buy from us, the more they'll buy from someone else. But I won't make any assumptions, or I'm not negotiating trade agreements. So I won't comment on that, but I know they've already expressed a desire to diversify their oil portfolio before all of this. So, obviously, the more we sell to them, the less they'll buy from someone else. But we'll see what we conclude from all of this."

The US Secretary of State was asked if the US could lift the tariffs. He replied, "I don't make tariff decisions, the President does. But it's clear the President was aware of the options available to him and made this decision."

Regarding the sanctions on oil companies, he said, "We're still in discussions. I mean, we have broader trade issues we're working on, but they'll always be our allies and friends. We're working on something right now, but I think."