Russian | Pakistan

Oil prices headed for weekly gains as of Friday, despite the US trying to ease supply concerns by issuing a 30-day license for countries to buy Russian oil and petroleum products stranded at sea. Brent futures for May rose $1.02, or 1 per cent, to $101.48 a barrel at 07:30 GMT, heading for a weekly increase of nearly 10pc. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude for April was up by 94 cents, or 1.0pc, at $96.67 a barrel, poised for more than a 6pc uptick for the week. The license was issued in what Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said was a step to stabilise global energy markets roiled by the US-Israeli war on Iran, but analysts said this has failed to resolve wider supply constraints. “ICE Brent futures have already breached $100 per barrel and are still supported today, despite moves to calm the markets with the Russian oil waiver and the unprecedented release of emergency stockpiles,” said Emril Jamil, senior analyst at LSEG. “The market sees this as a short-term solution that does not address the crux of...

The Indian National Congress on Friday assailed the Narendra Modi-led BJP government after the US temporarily allowed Russian oil stranded at sea to be sold to India, saying the move called into question the country’s autonomy in matters of national interest. The waiver, which the US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said was issued to “enable oil to keep flowing into the global market,” comes under heightened tensions in the Middle East following the US-Israeli attack on Iran, sparking uncertainty around oil. It should be noted that India had earlier said it would stop purchasing Russian oil as part of a trade deal with the US. In a post on X, the Congress, citing the development, criticised the Indian government, and stressed that the BJP-led government “has led the country to a situation where the US is now deciding where India can buy oil from and where it cannot”. “This decision is not being made by Prime Minister Modi, nor by the Indian government,” it said. Congress said the Indian citizens were asking,...

Indian refiners are avoiding Russian oil purchases for delivery in April and are expected to stay away from such trades for longer, refining and trade sources said, a move that could help New Delhi seal a trade pact with Washington. The US and India moved closer to a trade pact on Friday, announcing a framework for a deal they hope to conclude by March that would lower tariffs and deepen economic cooperation. Indian Oil, Bharat Petroleum, and Reliance Industries are not accepting offers from traders for Russian oil loading in March and April, said a trader who approached the refiners. These refiners, however, had already scheduled some deliveries of Russian oil in March, refining sources said. Most other refiners have stopped buying Russian crude. Trump says India ‘committed’ to halting purchases The three refiners and the oil ministry did not respond to requests for comment. The trade minister on Saturday referred questions about Russian oil to the foreign ministry. A foreign ministry spokesperson said: “Div...

Russia faces a steep drop in oil income if United States President Donald Trump successfully pressures India to stop importing Russian crude, because losing its top purchaser of seaborne exports would force Moscow to slash prices to find other buyers, analysts and traders said. Trump on Monday cut US tariffs on Indian goods in a trade deal he said also included provisions for India to halt oil imports from Russia, the world’s second-biggest oil exporter. The US is also putting pressure on Russia to agree to a peace deal in Ukraine. Trump has over the past year already claimed that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi agreed to stop buying Russian oil. India never halted imports, however, citing its need for energy security and for cheap oil. The Kremlin says energy cooperation with India, its second-largest oil buyer after China, is strong after Russian President Vladimir Putin visited the country in December 2025. But Indian refiners are taking a cautious approach to Russian oil purchases, which is already hu...

Nordic diplomats rejected US President Donald Trump’s claims of Russian and Chinese vessels operating near Greenland, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. There have been no signs of Russian or Chinese ships or submarines around Greenland in recent years, the FT said, citing two senior Nordic diplomats with access to NATO intelligence briefings. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. The White House and NATO did not respond to Reuters requests for comment. It is simply not true that the Chinese and Russians are there. I have seen the intelligence. There are no ships, no submarines, the FT quoted one senior diplomat as saying. Another Nordic diplomat said claims that waters around Greenland were crawling with Russian and Chinese vessels were unfounded, adding that such activity was on the Russian side of the Arctic. Trump has repeatedly said Russian and Chinese vessels are operating near Greenland, a claim Denmark disputes. He has not provided evidence to support it. Trump said on Friday the US mu...

Chamber pitches Pakistan as gateway for Russian trade to Central, South Asia

The United States could raise tariffs on India if New Delhi does not meet Washington’s demand to curb purchases of Russian oil, US President Donald Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. “Modi is a good guy. He knew I was not happy, and it was important to make me happy,” Trump said on Sunday. “They do trade, and we can raise tariffs on them very quickly,” Trump said in response to a question on India’s Russian oil purchases. India’s commerce ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The US doubled import tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent last year as punishment for its heavy buying of Russian oil. Despite the hefty tariffs, India’s exports to the US leapt in November. Encouraged by the improved trade data, Indian officials have maintained a firm stance against US trade demands, signalling limited flexibility in areas such as agricultural imports, while data shows India’s oil purchases from Russia have declined. India is asking refiners for weekly disclosures of Russian and US oi...

A car bomb killed a senior Russian general in southern Moscow on Monday morning, the latest high-profile army figure to be blown up in a blast that came just hours after Russian and Ukrainian delegates held separate talks in Miami on a plan to end the war. Kyiv has not commented on the incident, but Russian investigators said they were probing whether the blast was “linked” to “Ukrainian special forces”. The attack was similar to other assassinations of generals and pro-war figures that have either been claimed, or are widely believed to have been orchestrated, by Ukraine. Lieutenant General Fanil Sarvarov, 56, head of the Russian General Staff’s training department, was killed when the bomb, which had been placed under his parked car, detonated in a residential quarter of southern Moscow. AFP reporters at the scene saw a mangled white Kia SUV, its doors and back window blown out. The frame was twisted and charred from the blast. The scene had been cordoned off by security forces, and investigators were sifti...

Japan has scrambled jets to monitor Russian and Chinese air forces conducting joint patrols around the country, the Japanese defence ministry said late Tuesday, amid rising tensions between Tokyo and Beijing. Two Russian Tu-95 nuclear-capable strategic bombers flew from the Sea of Japan toward the East China Sea to rendezvous with two Chinese H-6 bombers, and performed a “long-distance joint flight” in the Pacific, the ministry said. Four Chinese J-16 fighter jets joined the bombers as they made a round-trip flight between Japan’s Okinawa and Miyako islands, it added. The Miyako Strait between the two islands is classified as international waters. Japan also detected simultaneous Russian air force activity in the Sea of Japan, consisting of one early-warning aircraft A-50 and two Su-30 fighters, the ministry said. Japanese Defence Minister Shinjiro Koizumi said in a post on X on Wednesday that the Russian and Chinese joint operations were “clearly intended as a show of force against our nation, which is a ser...

India’s imports of Russian oil may decline for only “a brief period” as Moscow plans to boost supplies, using sophisticated technology to avert the impact of Western sanctions, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said on Tuesday. His remarks came ahead of President Vladimir Putin’s two-day visit to New Delhi from Thursday, looking to restore defence and energy ties as India is set to trim its Russian oil purchases this month to at least a three-year low. Russia’s top buyer of seaborne oil, India has cut crude imports from Moscow under pressure from Western sanctions, particularly by Washington, on Moscow’s top oil producers Rosneft and Lukoil. “There can be, for a very brief period of time, insignificant decreases in the volume of oil trade,” Peskov told Indian journalists, in response to a question about the impact of sanctions. Working to build the necessary environment for buyers Russia is the top oil supplier to India, the world’s third biggest oil importer and consumer. Moscow is working to build the “nec...

United States President Donald Trump slapped sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies on Wednesday, complaining that his talks with Vladimir Putin to end the Ukraine war “don’t go anywhere”. The European Union also unveiled a fresh wave of sanctions to pressure Russia to end its relentless, three-and-a-half-year invasion of its neighbor, which is allied with both Washington and Brussels. Trump has held off pulling the trigger on sanctions against Russia for months, but his patience snapped after plans for a fresh summit with Putin in Budapest collapsed. “Every time I speak with Vladimir, I have good conversations, and then they don’t go anywhere,” Trump said in response to a question from an AFP journalist in the Oval Office. But Trump added that he hoped the “tremendous sanctions” against Russian oil giants Rosneft and Lukoil would be short-lived. “We hope that the war will be settled,” he said alongside Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Wednesday evening tha...

US President Donald Trump reiterated on Sunday that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him India will stop buying Russian oil, while warning that New Delhi would continue paying “massive” tariffs if it did not do so. “I spoke with Prime Minister Modi of India, and he said he’s not going to be doing the Russian oil thing,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. Asked about India’s assertion that it was not aware of any conversation between Modi and Trump, Trump replied: “But if they want to say that, then they’ll just continue to pay massive tariffs, and they don’t want to do that.” Russian oil has been one of the main irritants for Trump in prolonged trade talks with India — half of his 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods are in retaliation for those purchases. The US government has said that petroleum revenue funds Russia’s war in Ukraine. India has become the biggest buyer of seaborne Russian oil sold at a discount after Western nations shunned purchases and imposed sanctions on Moscow for its 202...

Ukrainian drones attacked a gas plant in Russia’s Orenburg region, the local governor said on Sunday, causing a fire to break out at a workshop which emergency services were working to put out. The governor, Yevgeny Solntsev, said on his official Telegram channel that none of the plant’s employees were hurt in the attack, which left the plant partially damaged. Solntsev said earlier this month that Ukrainian drones had tried to attack an unnamed industrial facility in the Russian city of Orsk near the border with Kazakhstan. Unverified video posted to Telegram at the time showed an object smashing into a facility identified as the Orsknefteorgsintez oil refinery in Orsk. Ukraine has stepped up its attacks on Russian refineries and other energy facilities since August to try to disrupt petrol supplies and deprive Moscow of funding.

India has halved its purchases of Russian oil, a White House official said, but Indian sources said no immediate reduction had been seen, as President Donald Trump’s administration presses New Delhi and other nations to buy less Russian crude. Russian oil is a main irritant for Trump in prolonged trade talks with India — half of his 50 per cent tariffs on Indian goods are in retaliation for those purchases. His administration says Moscow is using petroleum revenue to fund its war in Ukraine. The White House official told Reuters on Thursday that talks with an Indian delegation in Washington this week have been productive and that Indian refiners were already cutting Russian oil imports by 50%. But Indian industry sources said on Friday that New Delhi had not informed refiners of any request to cut Russian imports. Trump says Modi pledged to halt Russian oil purchases Refiners have already placed orders for November loading, including some cargoes for December arrival, so any cut could be visible in December o...

India said on Thursday that its energy priority was the interest of its citizens, after United States President Donald Trump said New Delhi had promised it will stop buying Russian oil. New Delhi neither confirmed nor denied it was shifting policy towards Russia. “It has been our consistent priority to safeguard the interests of the Indian consumer in a volatile energy scenario,” Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said in a statement. “Our import policies are guided entirely by this objective.” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has previously defended buying oil from Russia, a historic partner of India, despite Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine. Trump in August raised tariffs on Indian exports to the US to 50 per cent, with Trump’s aides accusing India of fueling Russia’s war in Ukraine. “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 con...

Trade negotiators from the United States have told their Indian counterparts that curbing purchases of Russian oil is crucial to reducing India’s tariff rate and sealing a trade deal, two people familiar with the talks told Reuters. While trade negotiations are on a positive track, a US official said, more work is needed to ensure India addresses US concerns over market access, the trade deficit and purchases of Russian oil. US President Donald Trump has sought to pressure India, the European Union and members of Nato to curb purchases of Russian oil as a way to cut Moscow’s revenue and hasten an end to the war in Ukraine. The Trump administration has shown a willingness to use maximum leverage to advance its policy goals, as evidenced by its linking trade negotiations with India to demands that it curb Russian oil purchases. Trump has expressed growing frustration over the slow progress toward ending Russia’s war in Ukraine, a conflict he pledged to resolve from his first day in office. The US has already im...

United States President Donald Trump on Thursday urged Turkish counterpart Recep Tayyip Erdogan to stop buying Russian oil over the war in Ukraine, as Erdogan sought a long-awaited deal to buy US stealth fighter jets. As Erdogan visited the White House for the first time since 2019 during Trump’s first term, Trump called on him to use his influence with Russian President Vladimir Putin to end Moscow’s invasion. Trump said that he would discuss Ankara’s wish to buy high-tech F-35 aircraft and was ready to end sanctions on Turkey over its purchase of Russian air defence missiles. Nato ally Turkey was booted out of the flagship US stealth fighter programme during Trump’s first term after it defiantly bought Russia’s S-400 surface-to-air missile system. “I’d like to have him stop buying any oil from Russia while Russia continues this rampage,” Trump told reporters alongside Erdogan in the Oval Office. Trump said Erdogan was “very respected” by both Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and “could have ...

Poland said on Wednesday it had scrambled aircraft alongside allies to shoot down “hostile objects” violating its airspace during a Russian attack on neighbouring Ukraine, a first for a NATO country during the war. “Aircraft have used weapons against hostile objects,” Defence Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said on social media, adding: “We are in constant contact with NATO command.” The incursion came as Russia unleashed a barrage of strikes across Ukraine, including in the western city of Lviv, around 50 miles (80 kilometres) from the Polish border. Russian drones and missiles have entered the airspace of NATO members — including Poland — several times during Russia’s three-and-a-half-year war, but a NATO country has never attempted to shoot them down. A cornerstone of the Western military alliance is the principle that an attack on any member is deemed an attack on all. The operational command of Poland’s military slammed the “unprecedented” airspace violations, saying it had spotted around a dozen dron...

US President Donald Trump’s doubling of tariffs on goods from India to as much as 50 per cent took effect as scheduled on Wednesday, escalating tensions between the world’s two largest democracies and strategic partners. A punitive 25pc tariff imposed due to India’s purchases of Russian oil adds to Trump’s prior 25pc tariff on many products from India. It takes total duties to as high as 50pc for goods such as garments, gems and jewellery, footwear, sporting goods, furniture and chemicals — among the highest imposed by the US and on par with Brazil and China. The new tariffs threaten thousands of small exporters and jobs, including in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat. India’s Commerce Ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment. However, a Commerce Ministry official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said exporters hit by tariffs would receive financial assistance and be encouraged to diversify to markets such as China, Latin America and the Middle East. A US Customs an...

White House trade adviser Peter Navarro on Monday said India’s purchases of Russian crude were funding Moscow’s war in Ukraine and had to stop. New Delhi was “now cosying up to both Russia and China”, Navarro wrote in an opinion piece published in the Financial Times today. “If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the United States, it needs to start acting like one.” India’s Foreign Ministry has previously said the country is being unfairly singled out for buying Russian oil while the US and European Union continue to purchase goods from Russia. US President Donald Trump announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on Indian goods earlier this month, citing New Delhi’s continued purchases of Russian oil. The move will take total tariffs on imports from India to 50pc. “India acts as a global clearinghouse for Russian oil, converting embargoed crude into high-value exports while giving Moscow the dollars it needs,” Navarro wrote. The adviser also said India’s close ties with Russia and China made ...