Novak hopes Russia's energy partnership with India, China will continue in spite of outside pressure

MOSCOW. Oct 17 (Interfax) - Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak has expressed hopes that Russia's energy partnerships with China and India will continue despite pressure from outside.

"Our relationship in the energy sphere continues to develop successfully, and India is one of our main partners. We continue to supply them with energy resources, primarily oil to India. We hope that our partners will continue to keep this relationship alive. We value their sovereignty and independence in the face of the pressures which they are currently experiencing," Novak said in an interview with the Rossiya-1 television channel.

"I am sure that we will continue these interactions, with the People's Republic of China, too, despite growing pressures, which our partners in friendly countries are also experiencing," he said, commenting on Russia's relationship with China.

After 2022, China and India became the main importers of Russian oil overseas, but the U.S. has been using duties in an attempt to deter them from these purchases. For example, it imposed a 25% duty on India in late August as punishment for importing Russian oil. The U.S. has also been calling upon EU countries to introduce duties for China and India for the same reason.