GTRI: Trump's double attitude on Russian oil imports; ignoring China's role for geopolitical interests

China is Russia's largest oil buyer; US President Trump is nevertheless unfairly targeting India despite this. This has been provided in the latest report by the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). In the report, it has been said that the US is not condemning China and unfairly holding India responsible for importing Russian oil.

It says that this selective attitude of Trump may be motivated by geopolitical interests. According to the data, China imported Russian oil worth $ 62.6 billion in 2024. At the same time, India imported $ 52.7 billion. Despite this, Trump has focused his criticism on India, ignoring China's big role.

The report also contradicts Trump's new assertion on Truth Social where he accused India of purchasing vast amounts of Russian oil and reselling it at tremendous profits. GTRI explained that the statement is not only factually wrong but also misleading.

The think tank further explained that India does not export crudeoil to Russia or any other nation. India is a net importer of crudeoil, and its overall crude oil exports are nil. India exports refined petroleum products only. These include diesel and jet fuel. Some of these are processed from Russian crude oil. This is a standard practice in energy-importing countries, the report said.

It further said that both India's public and private oil refineries work independently to decide where to source crude oil. These companies do not need government permission to buy oil from Russia or any other country. Their decisions are based on commercial aspects such as price, reliability of supply, and rules of export destinations.

If Indian refineries find that importing Russian crude oil involves risks, such as secondary sanctions or restricted access to global markets, they may voluntarily reduce or stop such imports, the report said.

For example, India exported diesel and aviation turbine fuel (ATF) to the European Union in FY25, but these exports will now stop due to the EU ban on products refined from Russian crude oil. In such a situation, refiners will move away from Russian oil without any government order. This trend is already visible. In May 2025, India's imports from Russia fell by 9.8 percent to $9.2 billion compared to May 2024.