Russia said it welcomed India’s decision not to support the price cap on Russian oil announced by the G7 and their allies. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak made the statement during his meeting with India’s ambassador to Russia, Pavan Kapoor on December 9.
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“The Deputy Prime Minister welcomed India’s decision not to support the price cap on Russian oil that was imposed on December 5 by the G7 countries and their allies,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Novak stressed that Russia responsibly fulfills its contractual obligations for the supply of energy sources, diversifying energy exports to the countries in the east and south in the midst of the energy crisis. Earlier in September, G7 nations agreed to impose a price cap on oil imports from Russia.
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According to the statement issued by the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian oil imports to India rose to 16.35 million tons in the first eight months of 2022. Notably, India continues to import oil from Russia despite the ongoing war between Moscow and Kyiv. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs defended the decision to buy Russian oil.
During the summer, Russia was ranked second in terms of oil shipments to India. In addition, deliveries of petroleum products and coal also increased. During the meeting with Pavan Kapoor, Novak invited the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri to participate in the international forum, Russian Energy Week 2023, which is scheduled to be held in Moscow from October 11-13, 2023. During the meeting , the two sides noted the record growth of trade between Russia and India. Kapoor and Novak expressed the desire to continue the interaction, increasing cooperation on trade in energy resources such as oil, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, coal and fertilizer.
Russian Deputy Minister Alexander Novak has offered cooperation to India in leasing and building large-capacity vessels so as not to depend on the ban on insurance services and oil leasing in the European Union and the United Kingdom, the statement said.
Novak described introducing a price cap on Russian oil as an “anti-market measure”, which he stressed affects supply chains. “The introduction of a price cap on Russian oil is an anti-market measure. It disrupts supply chains and could seriously complicate the situation in global energy markets. Such non-market mechanisms disrupt the international trading system as a whole and set a dangerous precedent in the energy market,” Novak said in the statement.
“Because of this, the problem of energy poverty is getting worse not only in the developing world, but also in the developed countries of Europe”, it added.
