The United States reaffirmed its stance on India’s energy imports from Russia on Wednesday, saying Washington was willing to help New Delhi diversify its pool of sellers. The United States, however, reiterated that such “decisions are made by individual countries.”

White House press secretary Jen Psaki said during a daily briefing, “We do not think India should accelerate or increase imports of Russian energy and other commodities”, according to reports from PTI.

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While responding to a question on Wednesday, Psaki noted that Russian oil exports to India are only 1- 2% of the total imports made by the country. The United States is “making clear that we stand ready to support India in any efforts to diversify its imports and serve as a reliable supplier”, Psaki explained.

India’s energy imports from Russia have seen a sharp increase since late February, when Ukraine was invaded. A flurry of sanctions have been imposed on Moscow since then, making room for cheaper oil imports from Russia. 

Gas prices have also soared in the United States as calls for further sanctions increased. President Joe Biden, earlier this month, said that he will be approving a release of 1 million oil barrels per day from the national reserves to curb spiking prices.

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Psaki also spoke about the nomination of Eric Garcetti as the United States ambassador to India while referring to Daleep Singh’s recent visit to New Delhi. Singh is the United States Deputy National Security Advisor, second in command to Jake Sullivan.

“Our preference is always to have a confirmed ambassador on the ground”, Psaki said in a daily briefing. The White House press secretary added that the “deputy National Security Advisor was just in India recently in the last few weeks, conveying clearly what the consequences of violating sanctions would be and what the mechanisms are.”