Even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi visits Kyiv on a historical visit, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged India to stop importing Russian oil, as per EU embargoes, to help end the war. His expectations towards New Delhi are hypocritical since many European nations bypassed these EU sanctions to continue purchasing Russian crude.

India’s External Affairs Minister, S. Jaishankar, underscored that market needs, not political pressures, drive India’s oil purchase decisions.

Modi’s Historical Trip to Ukraine

Prime Minister Modi took a train journey from Warsaw to Kyiv, becoming one of the rare international leaders to visit Moscow and Kyiv. Modi has consistently championed diplomacy and dialogue as the means to resolve the conflict between Russia and Ukraine. In a direct conversation with President Putin during their meeting in Uzbekistan in September 2022, Modi asserted that the current era is not one of war.

Zelensky Wants India To Abandon Neutral Position

On 23 August 2024, Zelensky met PM Modi and described India as a “significant country” with considerable influence over the Russian economy. He emphasized that the war could end if India altered its stance towards Russia, specifically by halting its purchase of discounted Russian oil and aligning closely with the EU. He said this decision could prompt Russian President Vladimir Putin to cease hostilities.

However, Zelensky’s call for India to abandon its neutral position and support EU sanctions against Russia highlights an ongoing issue.

Interestingly, even after meeting PM Modi, Zelensky expects India to take a firmer stance against Russia. India has consistently shown unwavering commitment to its neutral position in the Russia-Ukraine conflict. New Delhi is resolute in its decision to purchase Russian oil.

Meanwhile, several European countries that oppose Russia are circumventing EU sanctions to continue importing Russian oil. Even then, Zelenskyy remains tight-lipped about their sanctions violations.

For example:

• Bulgaria: Although temporarily exempt from the embargo, it has received limited quantities of Russian crude oil.
• Germany: Some German companies have procured Russian oil through third-party traders.
• Netherlands: There have been accusations that the Netherlands allows Russian oil to enter through intermediaries.
• Poland: Despite its strong criticism of Russia, Poland has reportedly allowed Russian oil to enter the country through third-party traders.
• Czech Republic: Reports indicate that the Czech Republic imports Russian oil through intermediaries.
• Greece: Some Greek firms are said to be buying Russian oil from third-party sources.

Additionally, certain American companies reportedly purchase Russian oil from third-party traders, who blend or process it to obscure its origin. This circumvention of sanctions raises questions about the effectiveness of measures by Western countries to not “fund the war with Russian oil”.

India Defends Market-Driven Oil Strategy

India is unequivocal about one point. As one of the world’s largest consumers of crude oil, India’s purchase decisions are driven by market considerations alone. The Narendra Modi-led government in New Delhi follows an oil strategy focused on securing supplies based on market dynamics, not geopolitical motives.

Speaking at a press conference in Kyiv, shortly after PM Narendra Modi met Zelensky, EAM S. Jaishankar emphasized that India’s oil purchasing decisions are driven by market conditions rather than political strategies.

Minister Jaishankar said, “India is a big oil consumer… we are a big oil importer because we don’t have oil. Now, it is not like there is a political strategy to buy oil… there is an oil strategy to buy oil… there is a market strategy.” Highlighting the current tightness in the market, he said, “So the figures for where we import oil from will go up and down… it depends on the market. But definitely, I think it depends, or is decided by, a tight market… one in which big supplies, like Iran and Venezuela, who used to supply to India, are now constrained from operating freely.”

The EAM also reiterated India’s position on purchasing Russian oil, stressing that this approach has been crucial given the current market constraints. “We have discussed the market conditions with Ukraine. The sanctions imposed on various producers have made the market particularly tight,” he noted, adding that stable and reasonable oil prices benefit the global economy.

India’s Unwavering Neutral Stance

In February, Jaishankar defended India’s stance on preferring Russian crude supply. He argued that Middle Eastern suppliers prioritized Europe due to higher prices. This preference risked leaving India without energy or forcing it to pay even more.

“Our approach has helped stabilize the global energy market, as high prices would have been unsustainable for Indian consumers,” he said in an interview with German daily Handelsblatt.

Before the Ukraine conflict, India rarely bought Russian crude due to high transportation costs. By 2023, however, Russian crude imports to India had risen to about 1.66 million barrels per day, up from less than 700,000 in 2022. India is now the world’s third-largest oil importer and consumer. It has become a significant buyer of seaborne Russian crude, especially following Western sanctions. They purchase Russian oil in rupees, dirhams, and Chinese yuan.

Reliance Industries, the world’s largest refining complex, signed a one-year agreement with Russia’s Rosneft in May to purchase at least three million barrels of oil monthly, with payments in roubles. This arrangement allows Russia to bypass additional sanctions on transactions through Western financial institutions. Despite pressure from the West, including the US, to make India adhere to a price cap on Russian oil, New Delhi has continued buying from Russia to manage its energy needs effectively.

So, instead of lecturing India to reduce its Russian oil purchases, Zelenskyy must ask his friends in the West to follow the rules they made.

(With Inputs From Rahul Shivshankar)

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The post PM Modi in Ukraine: Zelensky Must Ask His Friends In The West To Cut Down Russian Oil/Gas Purchase Instead Of Lecturing India, Here’s Why appeared first on The Commune.

Turkey conducted military exercises in the Mediterranean on Saturday which is expected to last for 2 weeks amidst heightened tensions between the former and Greece. Maritime border disputes, as well as gas drilling rights, have been causing trouble between the two countries as the neighbours have reignited this age-old rivalry by staging naval drills.

In a message on NAVTEX, the international maritime navigational telex system, Turkey said it would carry out “shooting exercises” from Saturday until September 11 in a zone off the southern Turkish town of Anamur, north of the island of Cyprus.

In the wake of this, Germany has intervened and has sought Turkey to withdraw its forces from the Mediterranean so as to diffuse the tension between the two countries. Germany’s Foreign Minister, Heiko Maas, who is trying to mediate between the two countries, said the precondition for talks was an end to military manoeuvres. “For sure the parties will not sit down at the table when warships are facing each other in the eastern Mediterranean,” he said.

He added that the EU had “lost leverage over Turkey” since a botched military coup against the president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, in July 2016 accelerated a sharp downturn in relations. The EU strongly criticised Erdoğan’s crackdown against state employees and the media in the aftermath of the coup. Meanwhile, on paper Turkey remains an EU candidate country, but talks on accession and reform of its customs union with the bloc are in the deep freeze.

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The European Commission said that the EU is to gradually open up their borders as well as draw up a safe countries list for the benefit of those outside the restricted zones.

While talking about this, EU commissioner for Home Affairs Ylva Johansson said that the countries were to be classified bases on the following criteria: countries should have COVID-19 under at least as much control as the EU average, have containment measures during travel and also be willing to let in EU visitors. She added that decisions on borders were for individual countries to take but she hoped the Commission could help ensure a coordinated approach, something she believed member states themselves also wanted.

As per this proposal, travellers would be allowed based on their place of residence, not nationality, and they would not have to go into quarantine on arrival. So far, the western Balkans countries of Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Serbia have been added to the list. Further updates are due on this matter.

The proposal also included the lifting of controls in countries around the Schengen region, along with an extension of ban on external visitors coming for non essential purposes, from June 15. But, countries like Portugal and Spain have indicated they will not be doing so.

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