Modi knew I wasn’t happy with India buying Russian oil: Trump

US President Donald Trump implied that India had reduced purchases of Russian oil in an effort to “make me happy”, and warned that Washington could raise tariffs on New Delhi “very quickly”.

Trump spoke alongside US Senator Lindsey Graham, who stated that India’s envoy to Washington had informed him that India was purchasing less Russian oil.

“Modi is a very good guy and he knew I was not happy. And it was important to make me happy. They do trade and we could raise tariffs on them very quickly,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One on Sunday local time.Trump spoke in response to Senator Graham, who credited Trump’s 25% tariff penalty on India as a key reason for declining purchases of Russian energy.

“I was at the Indian Ambassador’s house about a month ago and all he wanted to talk about is how they’re buying less Russian oil. Would you tell the president to relieve the tariff?,” said Graham, quoting private conversations with Indian Ambassador to the US Vinay Kwatra.

Earlier in October, President Trump claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had assured him that India would cease purchasing oil from Russia.

Indian oil purchases from Russia rose to $3.72 billion by value in the month of November, according to data provided by the Indian Commerce Ministry’s Directorate General of Commercial Intelligence and Statistics. However, analytics firm Kpler reported that Indian purchases from Russia declined in December. US sanctions on Russia energy majors Rosneft and Lukoil –– both of which did substantial business with India –– are expected to take a toll on Indian energy purchases.

At the same time, Indian oil purchases from the United States rose in value to $1.44 billion in November. The increases come as part of an earlier Indian commitment to raise energy purchases from the US from $15 billion to $25 billion. In November, Indian public sector oil companies signed a one-year deal with US energy majors for the import of 2.2 million tonnes of Liquefied Petroleum Gas, which accounts for roughly 10% of India’s total LPG imports.

Speaking on Monday, Senator Graham also advocated for the Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025, which proposes steep 500% American tariffs on goods and services exports from countries that purchase Russian-origin oil, natural gas, uranium and petroleum products. It also pushes for expanded sanctions against Russian businesses, government institutions and top policymakers.

Graham earlier stated that the bill will target countries like India and China.

“I’ve got 84 co-sponsors for a Russian sanctions bill that is an economic bunker buster against China, India, and Russia for Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine. I think that bill’s going to pass,” Graham had said in a television interview in June.