Russian oil out? Trump claims India ready to buy seized Venezuelan oil from US
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "Russian oil out? Trump claims India ready to buy seized Venezuelan oil from US")
US President Donald Trump, Indian PM Narendra Modi Photograph: (WION Web Desk)
Donald Trump claimed the US has a “concept of a deal” for India to buy Venezuelan oil seized by Washington instead of importing from Iran. He also invited China to strike a similar deal.
US President Donald J Trump on Saturday (Jan 31) stated that India was keen on buying Venezuelan oil, seized by the US in the aftermath of president Nicolas Maduro's capture. In an audio released by the White House, Trump also invited China to "come in and make a great deal on oil". This comes after Trump, over the past weeks, repeatedly slammed New Delhi for buying Russian oil and accused the South Asian nation of funding the Ukraine war.
India to buy Venezuela oil from the US?
Trump, in the statement released on YouTube by White House, claimed that the US and India have already made a "concept of the deal" with India. He claimed that "India is coming in, and they're going to be buying Venezuelan oil as opposed to buying it from Iran."
What did Trump say about India funding the Ukraine war?
Addressing the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in September 2025, Trump had accused China and India of being the "primary funders" of the ongoing Russian war in Ukraine. Trump said that New Delhi and Beijing's continuous purchase of Russian oil is a major factor in the war. The Trump administration has imposed an additional 25 per cent tariff on New Delhi as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil, taking the total levies imposed on India by the US to 50 per cent, among the highest in the world. Trump, at the time, also demanded that European allies, including NATO countries, immediately stop buying oil from Russia.
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