Biden regime tries to bully historically neutral India into not buying Russian oil, as Moscow makes a better deal
By jdheyes // 2022-04-04
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Once again, the foreign policy amateurs working for the Biden regime are doing more to drive away American allies and friends than Donald Trump ever did, though he is frequently blamed for harming international relationships. The latest disaster from the Biden team: Threatening India economically if New Delhi continues to buy Russian oil amid U.S. sanctions that are doing much to create a bipolar global economic system to the detriment of the U.S. dollar. According to Business Standard, a senior U.S. official has said that a substantial increase in Russian oil imports by India could put the latter at "great risk" as the Biden regime increases enforcement of its sanctions against Moscow over the invasion of Ukraine. Even though the current U.S. sanctions regimen doesn't actually prevent other nations from purchasing Russian oil, the warning increases the likelihood that the regime will at least attempt to restrict the purchases to normal levels. The warning, such as it was, came ahead of a visit to New Delhi by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who plans to spend two days there amid an ongoing visit to India by U.S. Deputy National Security Adviser for Economics, Daleep Singh. Oil refiners in India, the world's third-largest importer and consumer of the commodity, have been rapidly buying up Russian oil via spot tenders on global markets since the invasion started on Feb. 24, likely anticipating the West's sanctions regimen. Since then, India has bought at least 13 million barrels of Russian crude compared to roughly 16 million barrels throughout 2021. "U.S. has no objection to India buying Russian oil provided it buys it at discount, without significantly increasing from previous years," said the U.S. source who spoke on condition of anonymity. "Some increase is allowed," the source added without providing details. Meanwhile, Business Standard noted further that the U.S. State Dept. is aware of ongoing talks between India and Russia regarding oil purchases, citing the source. "We continue to engage our partners in India and around the world on the importance of a strong collective action, including strong sanctions, to press the Kremlin to end its devastating war of choice against Ukraine as soon as possible," the source added. The report added: U.S. sanctions are reducing the ability of Russia, which normally produces about 1 in every 10 barrels of global oil, to get crude to market. The Paris-based International Energy Agency has estimated that sanctions and buyer reluctance could remove 3 million barrels per day from global markets of Russian crude and refined products from April. The source said Washington has no problems if India settles trade with Russia in rupees or continues to pay in dollars, provided the transactions are sanctions-compliant and with permitted entities. But India is looking out for its own best interests, which is what our country did when Donald Trump was in office. And Russia is offering to help. First and foremost, the Indians are working on a trading method with Russia to purchase goods, including use of the country's currency, the rupee. Also, Russia has offered the use of a messaging system that the country's central bank developed as a means of enabling bilateral payments since New Delhi is not currently an active participant in the U.S.-led sanctions effort against Moscow, according to AntiWar.com. "Sources told Bloomberg that the plan involves using Russia’s messaging system, known as SPFS, for rupee-ruble-denominated payments. The proposal is expected to be discussed" when Lavrov arrives in the Indian capital this week, the outlet said. The move comes after the U.S. and the West cut Russia out of SWIFT, the primary messaging system used for international financial transactions. In the end, what's going to happen is that the U.S. moves, which are stupid on their face, will lead to the creation of a whole new global financial structure that cuts out the U.S. and the West and is self-contained among nations that, unlike the Biden regime, won't steal hundreds of billions in currency reserves. There is no stopping the Western financial collapse that's coming. Sources include: AntiWar.com Business-Standard.com
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