The European Union should crack down on India reselling Russian oil into Europe as refined fuel, including diesel, EU foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell, said.
India has emerged in the past year as a top buyer of Russian oil following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Reuters reported.
Access to cheap Russian crude has boosted output and profits at Indian refineries, enabling them to export refined products competitively to Europe and take a bigger market share.
Borrell told the newspaper he raised the issue with India's foreign minister, Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, when they met on Tuesday.
"If diesel or gasoline is entering Europe ... coming from India and being produced with Russian oil, that is certainly a circumvention of sanctions and member states have to take measures," the EU's chief diplomat said.
"That India buys Russian oil, it is normal, but if they use that in order to be a center where Russian oil is being refined and byproducts are being sold to us. We have to act," Borrell said.
Indian refiners, which rarely bought Russian oil previously due to high transport costs, imported 970,000-981,000 bpd of it in fiscal 2022-23 (ending March), accounting for more than a fifth of the country's overall fuel imports.
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