India will continue to purchase Russian crude despite a new U.S. tariff regime that doubles duties on Indian goods to 50%, Ambassador to Russia Vinay Kumar said in an interview published by the state-run TASS agency. Kumar called Washington’s move “unfair, unreasonable and unjustified,” adding that Indian companies will obtain oil “from wherever they get the best deal” to safeguard energy security for the country’s 1.4 billion people. The comments come days before President Donald Trump’s secondary tariffs take effect on 27 August, imposing an additional 25-percentage-point penalty on trade linked to Russian energy and defense transactions. The measure aims to pressure New Delhi to curb purchases that Washington says help finance Moscow’s war in Ukraine. India’s intake of discounted Russian crude has risen to about 35-40% of its total oil imports this year, up from just 3% in 2021. Foreign Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar echoed the envoy’s stance over the weekend, arguing that other large importers such as China and the European Union face no comparable surcharge. New Delhi has maintained neutrality on the Ukraine conflict and insists its trade decisions remain guided by market factors and strategic autonomy.