India's Foreign Ministry on Thursday neither confirmed nor denied claims by US President Donald Trump that India is ready to stop buying oil from Russia. 

On Wednesday, Trump told reporters at the White House Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi "assured" him that the oil purchases would wind down. 

Trump added that India could not "immediately" halt shipments, saying there was "a little bit of a process, but that process will be over soon."

What has India said so far?

In a statement Thursday, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said that India's priority on oil imports was to "safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario." 

"Ensuring stable energy prices and secured supplies have been the twin goals of our energy policy," Jaiswal added.

"This includes broad-basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions. Where the US is concerned, we have for many years sought to expand our energy procurement," Jaiswal said.

He added the Trump administration was interested in increasing energy cooperation and talks on that were underway.

Following Trump's claim, opposition leader Rahul Gandhi claimed that "PM Modi is frightened of Trump."

He "allows Trump to decide and announce that India will not buy Russian oil," Gandhi added in a post on X.

On being asked if India will continue importing Russian oil, Russian Ambassador to India, Denis Alipov, said it was a "question for the Indian government." 

"The Indian government is having in mind the national interest of this country in the first place, and our cooperation in energy is very much in tune with those interests."

Russian oil a sore spot in US-India ties 

Since Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, international sanctions have attempted to cut off Russian oil from global markets. 

India stepped up its purchases of Russian oil at a discount in the early days of the war, drawing criticism from its Western partners. 

Russia is currently the top supplier of crude oil to India. 

Modi has previously defended his government's decision to buy oil from Russia. 

In August this year, the Trump administration imposed a 25% tariff on India and increased it by another 25% in a bid to pressure Modi on Russian oil. Trump has said India's oil purchases fuel Russia's war machine. 

Edited by: Wesley Rahn