It was stated that Russia imposed a 5 percent discount on the sale of crude oil to India, which faced the threat of customs duties by the USA due to New Delhi buying fuel from Moscow.
According to The Times of India, a representative from the Russian Embassy in India said that India bought Russian oil at a discounted price because there were no alternative sources of supply.
The representative said, "The discount on Russian crude oil for India is about 5 percent. He understands that India does not have the possibility of changing the supplier and that this is extremely profitable for it," he said.
Criticism of "unilateral pressure" on the USA
Roman Babushkin, the Ambassador of the Russian Embassy in New Delhi, evaluated the threat of the USA to impose customs duties due to Russian oil purchases in India.
Babushkin noted that the West is exerting "unilateral and unjust" pressure against India like "neocolonial forces".
According to The Economic Times, Babushkin said, "If Indian goods encounter difficulties in entering the US market, the Russian market welcomes Indian exports."
US tax decision
On August 6, Washington began imposing tariffs on Indian products, citing New Delhi's fuel purchases from Moscow following its threats.
In this context, the total customs duty will reach 50 percent with the additional 25 percent tariff that will come into force at the end of August.
India, on the other hand, stated that similar measures were not fair, and drew attention to the fact that Western countries, who criticized it for trading with Russia, also continued to buy some products from Moscow.
According to data from Bloomberg and Reuters, threats from the US caused India's state-owned oil refinement plants to pause Russian oil purchases this month, but the companies later resumed acquisitions.
Data analytics company Argus estimated that the reduction in Russian Urals oil in the first half of August was $5 per barrel compared to Brent oil.