DA Editorial Desk
On 9 October, after a call with Vladimir Putin, President Donald Trump announced that Russia would send diesel to the United States: more than 300,000 tonnes immediately, 500,000 tonnes in November and larger volumes later. The US Treasury’s sanctions office issued a temporary general licence covering Russian-origin diesel until 7 April 2027. The stated reason is domestic: retail diesel has hit record levels of more than $6 a gallon, with the war with Iran and disruption around the Strait of Hormuz squeezing supply ahead of the midterm elections.
Set that beside what India has heard for months. On 18 September, Mr Trump signed the Lindsey O. Graham Sanctioning Russia and Iran Act, which authorises tariffs of up to 100 per cent on countries that buy Russian oil and gas. India is among those named as potentially affected. Washington has repeatedly urged Delhi to cut its purchases, and last year senior American figures accused India of financing Russia’s war. Many Indians will fairly ask why buying Russian energy is an offence when India does it and a necessity when America does.
India’s case is not new. In August 2025, the Ministry of External Affairs noted that the United States still imports Russian uranium hexafluoride, palladium, fertilisers and chemicals, and that Washington had once encouraged India to buy Russian oil to keep global markets steady. Delhi’s position has always been that its energy choices rest on national interest, price stability for 1.4 billion consumers and security of supply. This week’s licence suggests that the world’s largest economy reasons in much the same way when its own pump prices rise.
It is only right to hear the other side. The licence is temporary, it covers a refined product rather than crude, and the volumes are modest. Analysts estimate the early tranches at roughly 72,000 to 124,000 barrels a day against global diesel consumption of about 30 million. Washington can argue that easing a price spike is different from sustaining a war economy, and the Graham Act leaves room for exceptions.
Yet critics inside America have raised the same concern. Lawmakers from both parties and former sanctions officials have said that exempting oneself weakens the authority to ask others to comply, and Ukraine’s President has called easing sanctions without a ceasefire “an obvious weakness.”
Delhi’s own conduct deserves note too. Russia’s share of India’s crude imports fell to about 35 per cent in September from 56 per cent in July, and flows are at their lowest since March 2022, mainly because Russian barrels now carry a premium rather than a discount. Refiners are choosing on price, not on instruction from either capital, which is exactly the principle India has argued for.
The sensible course is calm consistency. India should continue to state its case without triumph, keep diversifying its suppliers and use this episode in trade talks to ask for even-handed treatment. The two democracies have too much in common to let a quarrel over diesel define them. But a standard applied only to others is not a standard, and Washington would do well to remember it.