India's Russian oil buys are funding Putin's war machine — Trump advisor

He wrote this in a column for the Financial Times.

India’s dependence on Russian crude undermines the world’s efforts to isolate Moscow, Navarro believes.

“Here’s how the oil math works between India and Russia. American consumers buy Indian goods. India uses those dollars to purchase Russian crude oil at a discount. That Russian oil is refined and resold across the world by Indian speculators in collusion with silent Russian partners, while Russia pockets hard currency to fund its war machine in Ukraine. As Russia continues to pressure Ukraine with India’s financial backing, American (and European) taxpayers are forced to spend tens of billions more to support Ukraine’s defense. Meanwhile, India continues to slam the door on American exports through high tariffs and trade barriers,” said Trump’s economic adviser.

Navarro also noted that India imposes some of the highest average tariffs in the world. The U.S. runs a huge trade deficit with India—nearly $50 billion per year.

“It is important to note that before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Russian oil made up less than 1% of India’s crude imports. Since then, daily imports have risen to over 1.5 million barrels—more than 30% of India’s total imports. To be clear: this surge has nothing to do with India’s domestic oil needs. In fact, the driving force behind this trade is speculation by India’s oil lobby. Refining companies have turned India into a massive hub for processing cheap Russian oil,” Navarro emphasized.

He also explained that refineries buy oil at a steep discount, refine it, and then export fuel to Europe, Africa, and Asia, thereby shielding India from sanctions under the guise of neutrality. The scale of this trade is significant—India exports more than one million barrels of petroleum products per day, equivalent to more than half the crude it imports from Russia.

“The money flows into India’s politically connected energy giants, and then into Vladimir Putin’s war chest,” Navarro wrote.

He also reported that Donald Trump’s recent introduction of a 25% national tariff on Indian goods was aimed at countering the threat posed by India’s continued imports of Russian oil. This new tariff adds to an existing 25% reciprocal tariff.

“If India wants to be treated as a strategic partner of the U.S., it must start acting accordingly,” Navarro concluded.