In a recent interview with the Associated Press, Treasury Deputy Secretary Wally Adeyemo acknowledged that India will continue rejecting US and EU calls to boycott Russian oil due to the allure of cheap oil.
In recent days, Reuters reported that India's purchases of cheap Russian oil increased sharply in June, reaching 950,000 barrels daily. This represented a 15.5 percent increase from May (when India imported 819,000 bpd), but imports from its top two suppliers, Iraq and Saudi Arabia, fell 10.5 percent and 13.5 percent, respectively. And this is a significant increase over the 277,000 bpd imported in April.
The Reuters story also highlighted the fact that China and India now account for 50% of Russian seaborne exports as the West tries to completely ban and sanction Russian oil, attracted by drastically reduced pricing compared to the Brent international benchmark.
After five months of round after round of US and EU sanctions intended to "punish" Moscow and Presiden...