‘India’s Interests Will Not Be Affected’: Russia’s Big Assurance On Oil Supplies

Sergey Lavrov on Wednesday assured that India’s energy interests and Russian oil supplies to the country would remain unaffected despite ongoing geopolitical tensions and global competition over energy routes.Speaking to RT India ahead of his visit to India for the BRICS Foreign Ministers' Meeting, Lavrov said Russia remained committed to honouring its energy agreements with partner countries, including India.“Their [US] goal is to seize everything, to seize all energy routes that are important. This goal is pretty clear and I'm confident that India understands what is happening,” Lavrov said.Also Read - The Journey of Russian Oil to India: Two Routes, One Backup And How Long It TakesHe further added, “I can assure you that India's interests when

it comes to Russian supplies will not be affected and we will do our utmost to ensure that this unfair play, unfair competition, could not affect our arrangements.”Lavrov accused the United States of trying to dominate global energy corridors and putting pressure on countries maintaining energy ties with Russia.The Russian foreign minister also criticised European countries for reducing dependence on Russian oil and gas, claiming the decision was politically driven.“And it's not a force majeure, an act of God, that the Europeans recall when they strongly refuse to have contracts on energy supplies from Russia. Now they try to ban our gas and oil simply because Russia needs to be punished,” he stated.“We do not punish anyone and we treat our commitments in good faith. The commitments that we have in our relations with our partners. It doesn't matter whether we're talking about friendly or non-friendly countries. If we reached an agreement, it's in the Russian tradition to live up to the arrangements,” Lavrov added.He also claimed that Europe could face a deeper energy and economic crisis due to restrictions on Russian energy imports and the ongoing tensions around the Strait of Hormuz.“They put Europe into a dire crisis. Energy-wise and food-wise, probably Europe will be the one to be affected the most from the crisis in the Strait of Hormuz,” he said.“The ban to buy Russian oil and gas means that they will need to switch to the US supplies of LNG, which come at a higher price,” Lavrov added.His remarks come at a time when global energy markets remain under pressure due to the continuing Russia-Ukraine conflict and tensions in West Asia.India has repeatedly maintained that its energy purchases are guided by national interest and energy security needs while continuing engagement with multiple international partners for stable and affordable energy supplies.