‘Our national interest guides our energy purchases’: MEA on Russian oil imports

NEW DELHI: The Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) has reiterated that India’s energy sourcing and purchases are guided by national interest and the need to meet the energy requirements of its 1.4 billion people, after External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said the Russia-Ukraine conflict cannot be resolved by countries buying or not buying Russian oil.

Responding to a question on Jaishankar’s remarks duirng his visit to Ukraine, during a media briefing here on Friday, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said India’s energy sourcing policy remains firmly guided by its national interest.

“On energy imports, our sourcing – you are well aware of what guides it. Our national interest guides our energy purchases, and the imperative for us to meet the energy requirements of 1.4 billion people is what guides us, and that will continue to be our policy,” Jaiswal said.

Bi-Weekly Media Briefing by the Official Spokesperson (September 04, 2026)
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— Randhir Jaiswal (@MEAIndia) September 4, 2026

This comes after EAM Jaishankar said that conflict could not be resolved through decisions by individual countries on purchasing commodities in reponse to a question on India’s purchase of Russian oil and whether New Delhi would reconsider its imports in the event of further sanctions.

“You know, this conflict… will not be solved because somebody is buying or not buying oil or alumina or minerals or metals or fertiliser,” Jaishankar said. “This conflict will be solved by dialogue, by diplomacy, and by negotiation. And that is why it is something we would encourage,” he added.

His remarks came during his visit to Kyiv on Thursday, where he met Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha and called on President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The External Affairs Minister also highlighted the challenge of ensuring energy security for India’s 1.4 billion people, while acknowledging that Ukraine has its own perspective on India’s energy purchases.

“I think it’s also important that all of you get the challenges of providing for energy for 1.4 billion people at a time when the world energy situation is very, very difficult,” Jaishankar said. “Ukraine side has its perspective, which we respect, and we have ours, which I would expect others to also respect,” he said.

During Friday’s briefing, Jaiswal also outlined the broader focus of Jaishankar’s visit to Ukraine, saying that India has consistently maintained that the conflict should not be resolved on the battlefield. The MEA spokesperson said that the EAM conveyed India’s longstanding position that “this is not an era of war” and that a solution to the conflict cannot emerge from the battlefield.

“He also underlined Prime Minister Modi’s comments that endless war must now give way to the end of war, noting that it is for the parties involved to find a way,” Jaiswal said.

Jaiswal further said that Jaishankar conveyed India’s willingness to contribute in any manner that could help bring the conflict to an end. “He further added that if India can be of any help in any manner to bring the war to an end, it is ready to do so,” he said.

The MEA spokesperson said the visit was in line with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent calls for an end to the conflict and was focused on exploring the prospects of dialogue and diplomacy.

India has consistently advocated dialogue and diplomacy as the way forward on the Russia-Ukraine conflict while maintaining an independent position on its energy security and external relations.

Prime Minister Modi has also repeatedly called for an end to the conflict. During his recent meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Bishkek, PM Modi said India supports all efforts towards peace and stressed that “every day spent in war sets humanity back.”

“We must move away from endless war and an end to the war. This is essential for the well-being of humanity,” the Prime Minister said. (ANI)