Allies in India have been good actors, have temporarily allowed New Delhi to accept Russian oil already at sea: White House

The U.S. has “temporarily permitted” India to “accept” Russian oil already on ships in the sea to ensure energy supplies amid the conflict with Iran, and the short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to Moscow, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said.

President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the whole national security team “came to this decision because our allies in India have been good actors and have previously stopped buying sanctioned Russian oil”, Ms. Leavitt told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday (March 10, 2026).

“So as we work to appease this temporary gap of oil supply around the world because of the Iranians, we have temporarily permitted them (India) to accept that Russian oil. And this Russian oil was already at sea. It was already out on the water. So this short-term measure, we do not believe it will provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government at this time,” she said.

Ms. Leavitt was responding to a question on the U.S. issuing a 30-day waiver to India to purchase Russian oil in the backdrop of the escalating West Asia conflict.

Amid the conflict with Iran, the US said last week it was issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil.

“President Trump’s energy agenda has resulted in oil and gas production reaching the highest levels ever recorded. To enable oil to keep flowing into the global market, the Treasury Department is issuing a temporary 30-day waiver to allow Indian refiners to purchase Russian oil,” Mr. Bessent had said.

He had said this “deliberately short-term measure” will not provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government as it only authorises transactions involving oil already stranded at sea.

“India is an essential partner of the United States and we fully anticipate that New Delhi will ramp up purchases of US oil. This stop-gap measure will alleviate pressure caused by Iran’s attempt to take global energy hostage,” Bessent had said.

Mr. Trump had imposed 25% punitive tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, with his administration asserting that New Delhi’s purchases were helping fuel Russia’s war machine against Ukraine.

Last month, the U.S. and India announced that they have prepared a framework for an interim agreement on trade, and Trump issued an Executive Order removing the 25% tariffs on New Delhi, noting the latter’s commitment to stop directly or indirectly importing energy from Moscow and purchasing American energy products.