Novak confident in stability of Russian oil exports to India, say it is in demand, economically beneficial

MOSCOW. Oct 16 (Interfax) - India will continue to import Russian oil, despite calls from the United States to reduce its purchases, Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak believes.

"We continue our interaction with our friendly partners. Our energy resource is in demand. It is economically advantageous and expedient. And I am confident that our partners will continue to work with us, interact and develop energy cooperation," Novak said.

"We only see signals in the press today about what our partners are saying, that no one can dictate to them, and they will choose their own path themselves," he said.

Previously, U.S. President Donald Trump said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had informed him of his readiness to stop purchasing Russian oil. Trump said that it was now time for China to do the same.

However, in response to this remark, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that protecting the interests of Indian consumers in an unstable energy situation has always been the Indian government's constant priority, and that the country's import policy is fully oriented towards this goal.

The previous day, Novak said that Indian companies have begun paying for supplies of Russian oil in yuan, but the percentage of transactions in this currency is still small, with the main payments made in rubles.

Russia has been the permanent leader in oil supplies to India since June 2022. Exports of Russian raw materials amounted to 87.5 million tonnes in 7M 2025, or 36.4% of the country's total import structure.