'My friend asked West to mind their business': Lavrov recalls Jaishankar's UN speech justifying Russian oil imports

Russian Foreign Affairs Minister Sergey Lavrov has heaped praise on External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar for advising the West “to mind their own business” over India’s continued procurement of Russian oil after the Ukraine war began.

In a video shared on X by Russian news agency Sputnik, Lavrov, while addressing the World Youth Forum in Sochi, said, “My friend, Foreign Minister Subramanyam Jaishankar, was once at the UN, giving a speech. He was asked why they started buying so much oil from Russia. He advised them to mind their own business and reminded them at the same time how much oil the West had started buying and continued to buy oil from the Russian Federation. This is national dignity.”

At a security conference in Munich recently, Jaishankar was again asked about India’s continued procurement of Russian oil.

To a question whether Russian oil imports become a problem in its equations with other major allies, Jaishankar, with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken and German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock sitting alongside, said, “Why should it be a problem? I am smart enough to have multiple options. You should be admiring and not criticising. Is it a problem for others? I do not think so.”

The External Affairs Minister had also earlier called out Europe’s “double standards” and said that it needs to grow out of the mindset that “Europe’s problems are the world’s problems, but the world’s problems are not Europe’s problems”.

Following the outbreak of the Ukraine war, the majority of Western nations implemented sanctions against Moscow and ceased purchasing Russian crude oil. In contrast, India declined to adhere to these sanctions and continued importing Russian oil.

Jaishankar conveyed New Delhi’s stance in global forums, underscoring that Indian citizens cannot bear high energy prices and that the Narendra Modi government is only trying to get the best deal possible for its people.

In the past also Moscow has lauded the stance of the Narendra Modi government. In January, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed confidence in India and its leadership, emphasising that Moscow trusts New Delhi not to engage in international ‘games’ against them.

With inputs from agencies