The White House on Friday pushed back against Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) after the senator argued the U.S. needed to do more for Ukraine despite voting against billions of dollars in aid for the country last week. Press secretary Jen Psaki responded to a Cotton tweet from Wednesday in which the senator said: “No more timidity and half measures. It’s time to send Ukraine the weapons needed to end this invasion.”
India’s state-run oil company purchased 3 million barrels of Russian crude this week as numerous other nations bar such imports due to Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine, The Associated Press reported on Friday.
Indian Oil Corp. made the purchase despite international pressure, led by the U.S. and other Western nations, to freeze Russia out of the global energy market over the incursion. India, the world’s largest democracy, imports about 85 percent of the oil it uses.
The largest portion of India’s oil, 27 percent, comes from Iraq, followed by Saudi Arabia with 17 percent, the United Arab Emirates with 13 percent and the U.S. at 9 percent.
The U.S. and much of Europe have already applied heavy sanctions to Russia along with the U.S.’s energy import ban.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki has said Indian purchases of Russian oil would not run afoul of U.S. sanctions, but that Indian leaders should “think about where [they] want to stand when history books are written.”
“India imports most of its oil requirements. We are exploring all possibilities in the global energy market. I don’t think Russia has been a major oil supplier to India,” said Arindam Bagchim, a spokesman for India’s External Affairs Ministry.
The AP’s report comes days after Reuters reported that Indian officials were considering a purchase of deeply discounted Russian oil.
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India buys 3 million barrels of Russian oil: report https://t.co/nv222jqaG9 pic.twitter.com/4cM8M0WsNB
— The Hill (@thehill) March 18, 2022
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