Allies in India have been good actors, have temporarily allowed New Delhi to accept Russian oil already at sea: White House

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON: (Mar 11) The US has "temporarily permitted" India to "accept" Russian oil already on ships in the sea to ensure energy supplies amid the conflict with Iran and the short-term measure will not provide significant financial benefit to Moscow, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt has said.

President Donald Trump, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and the whole national security team "came to this decision because our allies in India have been good actors and have previously stopped buying sanctioned Russian oil", Leavitt told a press conference at the White House on Tuesday.

"So as we work to appease this temporary gap of oil supply around the world because of the Iranians, we have temporarily permitted them (India) to accept that Russian oil. And this Russian oil was already at sea. It was already out on the water. So this short-term measure, we do not believe it will provide significant financial benefit to the Russian government at this time," she said.