As India’s diplomats negotiated an accord that would ease punitive U.S. tariffs on the South Asian country’s exports in January, New Delhi slashed its purchases of Russian crude oil in a move that was widely seen as a painful concession to U.S. President Donald Trump.
Just two months later, however, Delhi and Moscow are deepening their energy cooperation, with both sides agreeing to prepare for Russia to resume direct sales of liquefied natural gas for the first time since the start of the Ukraine war, according to two people familiar with the matter. If India decides to pursue the deal, which risks violating Western sanctions, negotiations could be concluded in weeks, one of the people said.
Details of the talks, which come amid skyrocketing energy prices triggered by the U.S.-Israeli attack on Iran, have not been previously reported. The “verbal agreement” to negotiate an LNG deal was reached during a March 19 meeting between Russian Deputy Energy Minister Pavel Sorokin and Indian Petroleum and Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri in Delhi, the people said.
