Kumar Bahukhandi
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal – Photo: ANI
The European Union has imposed tough sanctions on Russia for the 18th time over the Ukraine war, targeting the energy, banking and military sectors. India refused to accept these unilateral sanctions, saying that there should be no double standards on energy trade and its priority is energy security. Russia called these sanctions illegal and said that it would do its best to reduce their impact.
The European Union (EU) on Friday JULY 18, 2025 imposed new sanctions on Russia for the 18th time for attacking Ukraine. Just hours after this, India said that it does not accept such unilateral sanctions and there should not be double standards on issues like energy trade.
Foreign Ministry spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that India has taken note of these sanctions of the European Union. He said that India is a responsible country and fulfills all its legal obligations, but does not accept any unilateral sanctions. He said that energy security is very important for India, so that the basic needs of the citizens of the country can be met. He also said that double standards should not be adopted especially in the case of energy trade.
According to the European Union, this 18th round of sanctions imposed on Russia is based on five main parts – reducing Russia’s income from energy, hurting its banking sector, weakening its military industry, preventing attempts to evade sanctions and holding Russia responsible for crimes committed against Ukrainian children and cultural heritage. According to the EU statement, the number of Russia’s ‘shadow fleet’ i.e. hidden ships has now increased to 444 and a total of more than 2,500 individuals and entities have been banned. This time new sanctions have also been imposed on Belarus.
Adequate oil supply in the global market
Meanwhile, Petroleum and Natural Gas Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Thursday that India has diversified its sources for oil purchase to a great extent, so India is not much worried about any action by the US on Russia’s oil exports. Speaking at the ‘Energy Dialogue 2025’ program organized in Delhi, Puri said that India now buys oil from 40 countries, whereas in 2007 this number was only 27. He said that there is currently adequate supply of oil in the global market.
Puri further said that even though there are sanctions on Iran and Venezuela right now, will these remain forever? He said that many countries like Brazil, Canada are increasing their production. Therefore, there is no special concern about the supply at the moment. The minister’s remarks came at a time when US President Donald Trump said that if Russia does not sign a peace agreement with Ukraine within 50 days, he will impose strict trade sanctions on Russia. He also threatened to impose secondary sanctions on countries like India and China which buy oil from Russia.
What did Russia say on the new sanctions
Meanwhile, Moscow on Friday July 18,2025 called the new sanctions of the European Union illegal and said that it would analyze it in depth so that its impact could be minimized. Russian President’s Office spokesman Dmitry Peskov told the state news agency ‘TASS’ that Europe’s stance remains consistently anti-Russia and Russia considers such unilateral sanctions illegal and opposes them. Peskov also said that Russia has strengthened itself against the sanctions of Western countries over time and has got used to living in such a situation. He said that it would be necessary to study the new sanctions thoroughly so that its impact could be minimized.
