(MENAFN- Live Mint) United States President Donald Trump reiterated on Friday, October 17, that India will halt crude oil imports from Russia as part of efforts to pressure Moscow to end the war in Ukraine. Trump said India had already begun to deescalate and pull back on its crude oil purchase from Russia – which triggered America to impose 25 per cent additional tariffs on Indian imports.

Speaking in the White House during a bilateral lunch with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky, Donald Trump said,“India will not buy Russian oil. Hungary is sort of stuck because they have one pipeline. It's been there for years and years.”

“But India will not be buying oil from Russia. They have already deescalated and is pulling back. They bought about 38 per cent of the oil and they won't be doing it anymore,” Donald Trump said.

'India will not buy Russian oil,' claims Trump: Watch

Just a day ago, Donald Trump had claimed that Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally assured him that India would not be buying oil from Russia. He said,“So I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he [Modi] assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia.”

“That's a big step. Now we're going to get China to do the same thing.”

“There will be no oil. He's not buying oil,” Trump said. The change won't take immediately, he said, but“within a short period of time”.

The claims prompted India to bluntly reject Donald Trump's remarks, saying the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) was not aware of any such conversation taking place between the US President and the Indian prime minister, reaffirming its commitment to pursue energy deals based on“national interest”.

MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said,“On the question of whether there was a conversation or a telephone call between Prime Minister Modi and President Trump, I am not aware of any conversation yesterday between the two leaders.”

After Trump's crude oil claims, Russia said it was confident its business ties with New Delhi would continue.

Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak said,“We continue to cooperate with our friendly partners. Our energy resource is in demand. It is economically viable and feasible. I am confident that our partners will continue to work with us, interact, and develop energy cooperation.”

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