Russia-Ukraine War: Moscow Welcomes India's Decision To Not Support G7's Price Cap On Oil

Russia was ranked second in terms of oil shipments to India during the summer. Additionally, supplies of oil products and coal surged.

Russia said that it welcomes India's decision to not support the price cap on oil.

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New Delhi: Russia has welcomed India's decision to not support the price cap on Russian oil announced by the Group of Seven (G7) and their allies. Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak made the comment at a meeting with India's Ambassador to Russia, Pavan Kapoor on December 9.

"The Deputy Prime Minister welcomed India's decision not to support the price cap on Russian oil, which was imposed on December 5 by the G7 countries and their allies," the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement, as reported by ANI.

Novak emphasised that, in the midst of the energy crisis, Russia is appropriately fulfilling its contractual responsibilities for the supply of energy resources, diversifying energy exports to the east and south. Earlier in September, the G7 nations decided to impose a price cap on Russian oil imports.

According to the statement issued by the Russian Foreign Ministry, Russian oil imports to India rose to 16.35 million tonnes in the first eight months of 2022. Notably, India continues to import oil from Russia despite the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine. The Ministry of External Affairs has defended the decision of purchasing Russian oil, ANI reported.

Russia was ranked second in terms of oil shipments to India during the summer. Additionally, supplies of oil products and coal surged.

During the meeting with Pavan Kapoor, Novak invited the Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas Hardeep Singh Puri to take part in the international forum, Russian Energy Week 2023, which is scheduled to be held in Moscow from October 11-13, 2023.

The ANI reported that during the meeting, the two sides noted the record growth in trade between Russia and India, and expressed the desire to continue the interaction, increasing cooperation on trade in energy resources like oil, petroleum products, liquefied natural gas, coal and fertiliser.

Furthermore, the statement added that Russia's Deputy PM Novak offered cooperation to India on leasing and building large-capacity ships in order to not depend on the ban on insurance services and tanker chartering in European Union and the United Kingdom. Novak described introducing a price cap on Russian oil as an "anti-market measure" which he stressed affects supply chains.

"The introduction of a price cap on Russian oil is an anti-market measure. It disrupts supply chains and could significantly complicate the situation in global energy markets. Such non-market mechanisms disrupt the international trading system as a whole and set a dangerous precedent in the energy market," Novak said in the statement.

"As a result, the problem of energy poverty is being aggravated not only in the developing world, but also in the developed countries of Europe," it added.

(With inputs from ANI)