Washington DC [US], March 11, 2026: White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday, March 10, underlined that the United States had “permitted” India to temporarily purchase Russian oil in the wake of the disruptions to global energy supplies amid the conflict in West Asia.
The White House Press Secretary made the remarks during a media briefing on Tuesday.
When asked whether she had spoken to the US President about oil-sanction waivers to India in the wake of the developing security situation in West Asia, Leavitt responded, saying that the decision comes as India has been a “good actor” and while the measure is short-term, it will not provide significant financial benefit to Russia.
”I have spoken to the President about it and the Secretary of Treasury and the whole National Security team came to this decision because our allies like India have been good actors and previously stopped buying sanctioned Russian oil. So as we work to appease this temporary gap of oil supply around the world, because of the Iranians, we have temporarily permitted them to accept Russian oil”, Leavitt said.
She added, “This Russian oil was already at sea, it was already out in the waters– so this short term measure, we don’t believe it will provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government at this time.”
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