Days after U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser for International Economics Daleep Singh made a trip to New Delhi to warn India that the purchase of Russian oil at discounted prices would come at the risk of U.S. sanctions, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki reiterated the Biden administration’s message.
Ms. Psaki said the private and public messaging had been that “every country should abide by the sanctions that we [ the U.S.] have announced and that we’re implementing around the world”. Her comment was in response to a question on whether the administration was ramping up pressure on India and China to discourage them from increasing purchases of Russian energy.
“I would note that... energy payments are not sanctioned. That’s a decision made by each individual country, and we’ve been very clear that each country is going to make their own choices even as we have made the decision and other countries have made the decision to ban energy imports,” Ms. Psaki said, before she reiterated Mr. Singh’s message.
