India Warns NATO Against ‘Double Standards’ On Russia; Puri Says Oil Supplies Secure

India cautioned NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte against any ‘double standards’ on sanctioning countries that trade with Russia, after his warning of sweeping secondary penalties for nations still buying Russian energy.

Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said in New Delhi that India’s energy security remains an ‘overriding priority’ and decisions reflect market availability and global conditions. He urged restraint in judging how countries meet domestic needs.

Rutte, speaking in Washington earlier this week, said China, India and Brazil could face 100 per cent secondary sanctions if Moscow resists peace talks on Ukraine, sharpening scrutiny of large buyers of Russian crude.

At the Urja Varta 2025 forum, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said India is ‘not unduly worried’ about supply disruption because it has diversified crude sourcing—now buying from 40 countries, up from 27 in 2007.

With multiple producers, including Brazil and Canada, increasing output, he argued the market remains well supplied despite sanctions on Iran and Venezuela.

Puri responded to US President Donald Trump’s 15 July threat to raise tariffs on Russian exports to 100 per cent and extend secondary sanctions to buyers such as India and China unless a peace deal emerges within 50 days. Some tough talk, he suggested, pressures disputants to negotiate.

Puri said India’s increased purchases of discounted Russian crude helped prevent prices from spiking to $130 per barrel when the Ukraine war began in 2022. India imported only about 0.2 per cent of its crude from Russia before the conflict; that share now nears 40 per cent.

He noted Russian barrels have moved under a $60 price cap but not formal sanctions, and reiterated India does not buy oil from countries under active prohibitions.

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