Trump claims India to buy Venezuelan oil instead of Iranian crude: 'Already made that deal'

US President Donald Trump on Saturday said India will buy crude oil from Venezuela instead of purchasing oil from Iran.

“We’ve already made that deal,” Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One while travelling from Washington, D.C. to Florida.

“India is coming in, and they are going to be buying Venezuelan oil as opposed to buying it from Iran. So, we have already made the concept of the deal,” he said.

India, who imported heavily from Iran earlier, currently imports little crude from the Islamic Republic due to longstanding US sanctions.

Trump’s claim comes amid Washington’s attempt to reduce the oil revenue of Russia, which it believes is helping fund the war in Ukraine.

The United States has been pressing New Delhi to cut purchases of Russian oil and has imposed a steep 50% tariff on Indian goods, including a 25% punitive levy linked to India’s buying of Russian crude.

India has already cut back on Russian oil purchases, slipping to third place among buyers of Russian fossil fuels in December, after Reliance Industries and state-run refiners sharply reduced imports, according to data released by the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA).

CREA said India’s total imports of Russian hydrocarbons fell to 2.3 billion euros in December from 3.3 billion euros in November, as Turkiye overtook India to become the second-largest buyer with purchases worth 2.6 billion euros. China remained the top importer, accounting for 48% of export revenues among the top five buyers, or about 6 billion euros.

Crude oil made up 78% of India’s December purchases at 1.8 billion euros, while coal worth 424 million euros and oil products worth 82 million euros accounted for the rest, the think tank said. India’s Russian crude imports fell 29% month-on-month to the lowest levels since the implementation of the price-cap policy, even as overall imports grew marginally.

The cuts were led by Reliance Industries, whose Jamnagar refinery halved Russian crude imports in December. CREA said all of Reliance’s shipments were supplied by Rosneft, from cargoes bought before US sanctions imposed by the Office of Foreign Assets Control took effect.