US President Donald Trump's sanctions on Russian oil giants Lukoil and Rosneft are putting pressure on India to recalibrate its energy strategy. The measures announced last week mean that Indian oil refineries, and the banks and shipping companies facilitating business with the blacklisted Russian companies, could face secondary sanctions if they don't wind down transactions by a November 21 cutoff date. The move comes as the Trump administration in August said it would impose a 50% tariff on a selection of Indian exports to the US over New Delhi's continued purchases of Russian oil. In September 2025, India bought some 1.6 million barrels per day of Russian crude, data from global trade analytics firm Kpler showed. Trump has also claimed several times in recent weeks that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi told him India would stop buying Russian oil. The Indian government has neither confirmed nor denied these claims, other than a Foreign Ministry statement on October 17 underlining India's goals are "ensuring stable energy prices" and "broad basing our energy sourcing and diversifying as appropriate to meet market conditions." US imposes sanctions on Russian oil giants 02:41 Signals in India of a Russian crude cut? Meera Shankar, former Indian ambassador to the US, told DW that it is interesting that the US sanctions have not been imposed on Russian oil per se, but on two large energy companies in Russia. "The removal of all Russian oil from the global market would push up energy prices and that would not be politically or economically palatable in either the US or Europe," she said. "Most Russian oil is being imported by private companies in India and they will take a view based on their assessment of the balance of benefit. The Indian government has offered to step up energy purchases from the US as part of its effort to diversify," added Shankar. Indian refining giant Reliance Industries, currently the largest Indian importer of Russian crude and the biggest exporter of refined petroleum products, has signaled it is preparing to cut out purchases from Rosneft, according to several refinery sources speaking under anonymity to Reuters news agency last week. On the record, a Reliance spokesperson said the refinery is "assessing the implications" of the recent Western restrictions on Russian oil, and emphasized it would be "adapting refinery operations" to meet compliance requirements of "applicable sanctions and regulatory frameworks." This includes compliance with new EU guidelines restricting the import of Russia-sourced refined petroleum products. Reliance added it would be "complying fully" whenever there is "any guidance from the Indian government."