China and India have started to reduce their purchases of Russian crude oil following President Trump’s sanctions on two major exporters from Russia, which were announced on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, on Thursday, several Chinese state-owned oil companies, including PetroChina, Sinopec, CNOOC, and Zhenhua Oil, halted their seawater purchases of Russian crude. They cited a “lack of serious commitment” from the Kremlin towards ending the conflict in Ukraine, particularly in light of the sanctions aimed at Rosneft and Lukoil from the Treasury Department.
Nevertheless, oil will still be transported through the pipeline linking Russia to China.
In India, reports indicated that Reliance Industries, a major refiner, is planning to either decrease or stop its imports of Russian crude. A representative from the Mumbai-based company mentioned that they had begun “rebalancing” their Russian oil imports, but didn’t elaborate further.
China and India rank as the largest consumers of Russian oil, collectively accounting for about 85% of Russia’s exports in August, as noted in the report.
If both Beijing and New Delhi were to completely cease their engagements with Rosneft and Lukoil, it could severely limit Russia’s capacity to finance its military operations in Ukraine.
A spokesperson for the Chinese Foreign Ministry, Guo Jiakun, expressed on Thursday that Beijing stands against the U.S. sanctions, claiming they lack a basis in international law.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent indicated on Wednesday that additional sanctions might be necessary if Russian President Vladimir Putin does not take steps towards peace.
The White House views these sanctions as part of a broader strategy to encourage Vladimir Putin to engage in meaningful dialogue to resolve the ongoing 32-month conflict in Eastern Europe. Plans for a summit with President Trump in Budapest were scrapped earlier this week.
“We remain interested in dialogue with the Russian side,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio to reporters as he was departing for a trip to Israel. “We still want to pursue that, and I think we had a productive conversation with [Russian] Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. We’ll continue to follow up.” He added that the president had been clear: without progress towards a peace agreement, action would eventually need to be taken, which is what happened that day.
Additionally, Treasury Secretary Bessent affirmed that his department is prepared to implement further actions to bolster President Trump’s initiatives aimed at halting ongoing conflicts.
The European Union has also instituted a ban on Russian liquefied natural gas imports and imposed sanctions on Chinese firms supplying dual-use goods that might enable Russia to evade trade restrictions.
Meanwhile, on Thursday, President Putin minimized the possible effects of the sanctions. He acknowledged their seriousness but insisted they don’t have a significant impact on Russia’s economic stability.
