'Under the price cap': Finland minister backs India on Russian oil imports

NEW DELHI: Finnish foreign minister Elina Valtonen offered unexpected support to External affairs minister S Jaishankar on India's purchase of Russian oil.Speaking at the Kultaranta Talks on Thursday, Valtonen said India had operated within the framework of the oil price cap introduced by Western nations following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

During a panel discussion, Valtonen remarked, “In India's defence, it has bought oil under the price cap. That was the intention.”'Goal was to not halt oil trade'She stressed that the price cap mechanism was never designed to prevent countries from purchasing Russian crude altogether.“When we introduced the oil price cap, we did not prohibit the world from buying Russian oil. The entire idea was not to disrupt the oil market but to make sure oil continued to be supplied while Russia did not make massive margins from it.”Her remarks came amid continued scrutiny of India's energy imports from Russia, which have increased significantly since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.Jaishankar pushes back against criticismJaishankar also strongly defended India's energy security strategy.He said India turned to Russian oil after global energy markets were disrupted by the Ukraine conflict. He also recalled that the United States had itself encouraged New Delhi to buy Russian crude to help stabilise global oil prices.

"I'll make two observations. I buy oil based on cost and availability. So at that point of time, much of the oil available in the market was Russian because Europeans were essentially buying oil from the Middle East, which was our traditional supplier,” he said.He further added, "At that time, the US specifically asked India to buy Russian oil to stabilize the world markets.”While discussions covered a range of issues, including the Russia-Ukraine war, defence cooperation, energy security and international partnerships, the Finnish minister's remarks stood out as a rare public endorsement of India's position on Russian oil purchases.