BY PC Bureau
October 16: US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him India will halt all oil purchases from Russia — a move Trump hailed as a “big stop.”
“He’s assured me there will be no oil purchased from Russia,” Trump said during a joint press conference with FBI Director Kash Patel at the Oval Office. “You can’t do it immediately. It’s a process, but that process will be over soon,” he added.
Responding to a question from ANI about India’s reliability as a US partner, Trump affirmed, “Yeah, sure. He’s a friend of mine. We have a great relationship. I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. Now we’ve got to get China to do the same thing.”
Trump also criticised India’s earlier Russian oil imports, saying they had indirectly prolonged the war in Ukraine. “We were not happy with him buying oil from Russia because that lets Russia continue this ridiculous war, where they’ve lost about a million and a half people, mostly soldiers,” he said. Calling the conflict “a war that should never have started,” Trump added, “Russia should have won it in the first week, and now they’re entering the fourth year. I want to see it stop.”
READ: Delhi Special Courts to Now Hear Cases Against Ex-Lawmakers
When asked about PM Modi’s recent meeting with US Ambassador-designate Sergio Gor, Trump described the talks as “great,” praising Modi as “a great man” and a steadfast leader. “He (Gor) told me that Modi loves Trump. I’ve watched India for years — it’s an incredible country. For a long time, leadership changed every few months, but my friend has been there now for years,” he said.
President Trump:
I was not happy that India was buying oil and he [Prime Minister Modi] assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That’s a big stop. pic.twitter.com/av6mwFzzJU
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) October 15, 2025
Trump reiterated his call for Russian President Vladimir Putin to end the war, suggesting that India’s withdrawal from Russian oil trade would make peace efforts easier. “If India doesn’t buy oil, it makes it much easier. They’ll go back to Russia after the war is over,” he noted.
The US President also revisited his earlier claim that he had prevented a nuclear war between India and Pakistan. “The Prime Minister of Pakistan said recently that I saved millions of lives by averting a war. That would have been a nuclear war with India — it was getting very close. Seven aircraft were shot down,” Trump said.
