New Delhi: Ukraine understands that India is a “sovereign country” and “needs to defend its national interests” when it comes to the purchase of Russian oil, Oleksandr Polishchuk, the Ukrainian ambassador to India, told ThePrint in an interview Saturday.
He added that Kyiv is not “pressurising” New Delhi over its purchases of crude from Moscow and any issues arising from this can be “discussed” bilaterally and resolved accordingly.
The ambassador’s comments come amid strained ties between India and the US over New Delhi’s continued purchase of Russian crude.
India’s policy has led to a number of senior officials in US President Donald Trump’s administration accusing New Delhi of “profiteering” from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war. The US has imposed an additional 25% tariff on India as “penalty” for its continued purchase of Russian oil, which is set to come into force on 27 August. Total tariff on many Indian goods entering the US would add on to be 50%.
“It’s not so easy to say how India should behave. We are not pressurising the Indian government. You (India) are a sovereign country. And you of course need to defend your national interests, but Ukraine as well, we need to defend our own national interests,” Polishchuk told ThePrint after an event marking Ukraine’s National Flag Day at the Qutab Minar in the Capital.
“It is not a case which would directly influence our long (term) ties with India and you know, the current relationship with India. All such problems can be discussed bilaterally. And I’m personally very happy that our leaders have such regular communication.”
Polishchuk also said conversations around such issues “cannot be avoided”, but it’s like in a “family where you have some difficult situations” that can be resolved through negotiations and discussions.
The Ukrainian ambassador added that Kyiv is working “hard” with the Ministry of External Affairs to “fix a date” for President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s visit to India. Last year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had visited Kyiv and invited the Ukrainian leader to India.
Modi reaffirmed the invite during a call with Zelenskyy earlier this month, Polishchuk confirmed.
The Ukrainian president had after the call with Modi said plans are on for the two to meet on the margins of the United Nations General Assembly session in New York next month. However, government sources have indicated no final decision has been taken yet about Modi travelling for the UNGA session.
Polishchuk also told ThePrint that there is no clarity on a potential meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Zelenskyy to negotiate an end to the war.
“I think it is difficult to say for the moment how there will be continuation of negotiations or the interesting question for everyone, when will President Zelenskyy meet President Putin. We do not know,” he said.
The Russia-Ukraine war has been ongoing for almost four years now, following the launch of a “special military operation” by Moscow in February 2022. The conflict has, however, been on in different forms since at least 2014, following Moscow’s claim of annexing Crimea, a claim that is not recognised internationally.
In 2022, the G7 member-states, including the US, UK and France, imposed a $60 per barrel price cap on the sale of Russian oil to impact Russia’s capabilities of carrying on the war with Ukraine. The price cap was designed to keep global markets stable and with India’s interest in mind, Eric Garcetti, former US ambassador to India, had acknowledged last year.
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Alaska summit & elusive peace
In the early days of the war, then Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba had claimed that India was “buying Ukrainian blood” through its increasing purchases of Russian oil.
However, Polishchuk told ThePrint that after Kuleba’s visit to India last year, an understanding had been reached between New Delhi and Kyiv over the issue.
“It (the trade of oil) was a clear indication that India is not actually trading with Russia in the US currency or in the euro. It’s only in rupees. Of course, the Russians try to find a way (around this). You know, they’re using different ways to avoid and sneak around this (restrictions on usage of dollars). But well, of course, Ukraine has concern about it because indeed it’s only one (crude) heavy source to Russians to (get) the money for improvement of their defence capacity,” he said.
Russia’s exports of oil is a major source of revenue for the country that has been isolated from western financial systems. India imported roughly $56 billion worth of Russian crude in 2024-2025 financial year. Due to the sanctions imposed by the West, most of India’s oil purchases from Russia are paid for in local currency rather than the US dollar.
In the past few weeks, Trump’s senior aides have accused India of making billions in profits through the export of derivatives from cheap Russian crude. Peter Navarro, counsellor to Trump, last week laid out the charges of alleged war-profiteering against Indian firms in Financial Times.
Once the additional tariff imposed by Trump will come into effect, India will be hit with 50% levies, among the highest of all trading partners of the US. Trump has claimed that imposition of additional tariffs on India was one of the reasons behind forcing Putin to meet with the US President in Alaska on 15 August.
The Alaska summit was the first meeting between a US president and Putin since 2021 and was Trump’s latest attempt to push through a peace deal on Ukraine.
“My president (Zelenskyy) was very clear after the Alaska (summit), he said we are ready for this meeting, we are looking for this meeting and if the Russian side will be ready with actual will, we can come and sit and speak with them. It’s definitely what the Prime Minister (Modi) said, that the solution to this war can be finally reached by a round table and peace negotiations. But, for the moment, Russia is not demonstrating any will to have negotiations,” Polishchuk said.
Zelenskyy had travelled to the US last week along with a number of European leaders to be briefed by Trump over the outcome of the Alaska summit. The US president reportedly spoke to Putin afterwards, with preparations for a trilateral meeting between him, Putin and Zelenskyy. It is still unclear what Trump and Putin agreed to during their talks in Alaska.
(Edited by Nida Fatima Siddiqui)
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