Russia has agreed to offer India crude oil at a steep discount of $35 per barrel on the pre-war price as international pressure lowers the demand for oil from Moscow, Bloomberg reported.

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The US, UK and European Union have imposed sanctions on Russia for launching an unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February. India is among a handful of nations defying international pressure and sanctions and buying Russian crude.

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Sanctions-hit Russia is offering its flagship Urals grade to India at a discount to lure New Delhi to lift more shipments, Bloomberg reported quoting sources.

Since February-end, headline Brent prices soared over $10, which means India stands to gain a larger reduction from the current prices.

Russia wants to ensure that India, the second-biggest oil importer in Asia, takes the 15 million barrels contracted for this year, Bloomberg reported. Talks are on between the governments.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who arrives to India today for a two-day official visit, is likely to discuss the purchase of discounted Russian crude oil by India, Mint reported. Lavrov will also deliberate on setting up a rupee-rouble payment system for bilateral trade between the two countries in the midst of the sanctions imposed by the West on Moscow for the invasion of Ukraine. This is the Russian foreign minister’s first trip to the country since Russia launched a military operation on Ukraine last month.

Earlier, there were reports that India has seen a “significant uptick” in Russian oil deliveries since March.

In 2021, only 12 million barrels of Russian crude oil were delivered to India and there were no cargo deliveries to the country since December, CNBC quoted Matt Smith, lead oil analyst at Kpler, as saying.

However, from the beginning of March, Russia has shipped five cargoes of oil, or about 6 million barrels, to India. These cargoes are set to be discharged in early April.

“This is about half the entire volume discharged last year — a significant uptick,” Smith said.

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(Edited by : Thomas Abraham)