June 12, 2026
Jaishankar rejects Europe’s criticism of India’s Russian oil imports
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Thursday said India’s policy on Russian oil is based on “cost and availability” while also calling out the US’ shifting stance on buying Russian hydrocarbons.
Speaking at the Kultaranta Talks hosted in Helsinki by Finland President Alexander Stubb, Jaishankar was asked whether India was “too willing to buy oil from Russia” amid the Ukraine conflict.
He said India was pushed toward Russian oil because Europe was buying oil from the Middle East, traditionally one of India’s key supply routes.
“So, circumstances pushed us in a certain direction,” he said.
Jaishankar also accused the United States of hypocrisy on Russian oil, saying that “the US specifically asked India to buy Russian oil to help stabilize the world markets.”
“After first imposing tariffs on us last year for buying Russian oil, the US then lifted its sanctions on Russian oil. Let’s not pretend there is some great principle involved here,” he said.
“If it is …do it when it suits us and don’t do it when it doesn’t …we’re all adults in the room. We know what the game is,” he said, adding that that moralizing over the issue served little purpose.
Comparing India’s oil imports with Europe’s arms exports, Jaishankar argued that European criticism of New Delhi reflected a contradiction.
The Indian foreign minister then pointed to what he described as European “moral ambiguity,” saying: “Europeans sell weapons which are used to attack India. Not now, for many years. We Indians have never done anything to endanger Europe.”
It was unclear what weapons sales or “attacks” Jaishankar was referring to.