India ignores U.S. tariff threats, buys Russian oil

After the United States House of Representatives passed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act of 2026 yesterday, authorizing unprecedented tariffs on nations that buy Russian oil and gas, India’s Ministry of External Affairs said, “India remains firmly committed to ensuring energy security for its 1.4 billion people.” U.S. lawmakers hope the measure will cut into Russia’s energy revenues and pressure it to end its war on Ukraine. But the apparent refusal of India—Russia’s second-largest energy buyer—to abandon Russian fossil fuels casts doubt on the strategy’s effectiveness. Even if India reduced its purchases of Russian energy for a time, that would not alter the larger geopolitical trend: India continues to draw closer to Vladimir Putin’s Russia.