Every barrel of Russian oil delivered to India has ‘Ukrainian blood’: Ukraine minister

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday mentioned that each barrel of Russian crude oil delivered to India had a great portion of “Ukrainian blood” in it.

Ukraine’s Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. (File Photo: Reuters)

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on Wednesday criticised India for its continued buy of Russian crude oil amid Moscow’s ongoing warfare with Ukraine, which is in its sixth month now.

“Every barrel of Russian crude oil delivered to India has a good portion of Ukrainian blood in it,” Kuleba said in a press conference.

WHAT IS INDIA’s STANCE?

Meanwhile, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar defended India’s decision to buy discounted Russian oil, saying it was the government’s “obligation” and “ethical responsibility” to ensure that the people in India get the “greatest deal.”

Jaishankar, who arrived in Bangkok on Tuesday to attend the 9th India-Thailand Joint Commission Meeting, took part in an event where he met members of the Indian community on Wednesday.

In an interaction with the diaspora, he said that while the US and some others may not appreciate India buying Russian oil, they have accepted it as New Delhi has not been defensive about its stand but made them realise that the government had the “ethical responsibility” to ensure that the people got the “greatest deal”.

The US and European nations have imposed heavy sanctions on Russia since Moscow despatched troops into Ukraine on February 24.

India has raised oil imports from Russia after the Ukraine warfare regardless of criticism from the west and continues to interact with Moscow for enterprise.

A senior Indian authorities official mentioned in June that India’s crude oil imports from Russia had jumped over 50 instances since April. In May, Russia overtook Saudi Arabia to turn into India’s second-biggest provider of oil behind Iraq as refiners snapped up Russian crude accessible at a deep low cost following the warfare in Ukraine.

Indian refiners purchased about 25 million barrels of Russian oil in May. In June, throughout a convention within the Slovakian capital Bratislava, Jaishankar defended India’s buy of Russian oil, saying if Europe manages to obtain oil and gasoline from Russia in a manner to make sure that the impression on its financial system will not be traumatic, that freedom ought to exist for others as nicely.

(With inputs from PTI)

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