According to senior American officials from the US Treasury Department, since Russia started its war with Ukraine, the US has neither asked India to cease or reduce its oil imports from Russia nor sanctioned any Indian entity for purchasing and refining crude oil purchased from Russia.

In response to a query during a meeting at the Ananta Centre in the nation’s capital, Anna Morris, Acting Assistant Secretary for Terrorist Financing, stated, “There is no restriction, we have not asked India to reduce Russian oil buying.”

She clarified, “Not dictating that no trade can be done with Russia,” during the discussion of phase two of the G7’s price cap on Russian oil.

“I also want to specify that once Russian oil is refined, from technical perspective it is no longer Russian oil,” she stated.

In the same event, India’s move to impose a price ceiling on Russian oil was praised by Assistant Secretary for Economic Policy Eric Van Nostrand, who stated that Russia was forced to sell oil to other nations at a discount, including India.

We are aware that the Indian economy stands to gain significantly from both the Russian oil trade and the interruptions to the world supply that the price ceiling is intended to prevent. The price ceiling aims to keep Putin’s income in check and preserve the world’s oil supply, primarily by establishing a way for India and other allies to obtain Russian oil at a reduced cost,” he said.

“The price cap’s objectives are to restrict Putin’s income and preserve the world’s oil supply, primarily by setting up a system that will allow India and other allies to purchase Russian oil at a reduced cost. By those measures, the first year of the price cap was successful: Russian oil continued to trade at a substantial discount to world oil prices, and the international oil markets remained well-supplied,” he continued.

In February of this year, the US Department of Treasury released a statement on the price cap on Russian oil.

“The United States is part of an international coalition of countries (the Price Cap Coalition), including the G7, the European Union, and Australia, that have agreed to prohibit the import of crude oil and petroleum products of Russian Federation origin (“Russian Oil “),” the statement read.

These nations, which are home to numerous world-class financial and professional services, have also decided to impose restrictions on a wide range of services pertaining to the maritime transportation of Russian oil, unless said oil is purchased and sold for a price that is equal to or less than the particular price caps set by the Coalition or is permitted by a licence. The ‘price cap’ is the term for this policy. The purpose of the price cap is to ensure a steady supply of crude oil and petroleum products to the world market.