Trump reiterates that India will not purchase Russian oil

President Donald Trump on Friday reiterated his insistence that India would stop purchasing Russian oil in a bid to strangle the Russian economy and force President Vladimir Putin to the negotiating table.

"Well India is not going to be buying Russian oil anymore, and Hungary is sort of stuck, because they have one pipeline that's been there for years and years and years," Trump insisted  during a meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

"And they're inland. They don't have sea, they don't have sea. And I spoke with the very great leader of Hungary, and they are, you know, it's very hard for them to get oil. I understand it," he went on. "We have, Hungary is in a very interesting position, because they can't have ports. You know, they're surrounded by land. So we'll see what happens there. But India will not be buying oil from Russia, and they've already de-escalated, and they've more or less stopped."

"They're pulling back. They bought about 38% of the oil, and they won't be doing it anymore," he added.

Trump previously insisted this week that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi had personally promised his country would stop purchasing Russian oil, though no Indian news outlet nor government agency has confirmed such plans.

New Delhi appeared to cast doubt on such plans, with Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal saying he was "not aware of any conversation" between Trump and Modi or any plans to that end, CNN reported.

Russia, for its part, does not appear to have issued any statement on the issue.

Ben Whedon is the Chief Political Correspondent at Just the News. Follow him on X.