US officials hold talks on energy deals with Russia

New Delhi, Aug 26 US and Russian government officials are reported to have held talks on “several energy deals” amid the negotiations that have been going on this month for bringing peace in Ukraine, according to a Reuters report from London that cited five sources familiar with the talks.

The report states that these deals were discussed as part of incentives to the Putin government to sign a peace deal with Ukraine, which would also lead to an easing of the sanctions on Russia.

The possibility of American oil giant Exxon Mobil “re-entering Russia’s Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project” and the prospect of Russia purchasing US equipment for its LNG projects in the Arctic region were among the proposals that were discussed, according to the Reuters report.

These deals were also briefly discussed at the Alaska summit on August 15, the report cited one source as saying.

The development comes at a time when the US penal tariff of 50 per cent on Indian exports is poised to kick in from Wednesday over purchases of Russian oil.

President Trump has stated that the 25 per cent additional tariff is being imposed in the form of sanctions against India for buying Russian oil and is aimed at putting pressure on Moscow to agree to a peace deal in Ukraine.

Meanwhile, India has made it clear that it has been buying Russian oil because it is in both national and global interest. These purchases have ensured low prices for Indian consumers and also prevented oil prices in the international market from shooting up, which would have imposed a heavy economic burden on all countries. In fact, the rationale for the US allowing India to buy Russian oil was to keep world prices in check.

Interestingly, while China buys more oil than India from Russia, the Trump administration has not imposed any punitive tariffs on the Asian economic giant.

Media reports have also mentioned that Trump is singling out India because it has categorically pointed out that he had no role to play in the truce with Pakistan after Operation Sindoor. India has made it clear that after the successful precision strikes that wiped out terrorist camps and damaged strategic air bases deep in Pakistani territory, Islamabad had requested peace talks. New Delhi had agreed to the proposal as Operation Sindoor had successfully accomplished the mission for which it was launched.

However, this runs contrary to Trump’s narrative of posing as a peacemaker who has brought several conflicts to an end worldwide since he came to power.

Pakistan, on the other hand, has been supporting this narrative and recommended Trump’s name for the Nobel Peace Prize as part of its cosying up to Washington.

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