‘PM Modi assured me he will not purchase Russian oil,’ says Donald Trump

US President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had promised him that India will stop buying Russian oil, months after Trump imposed punitive tariffs over the purchases. “He’s assured me there will be no oil purchased from Russia,” Trump said.Responding to ANI’s question whether he views India as a reliable partner, Trump said: “Yeah, sure. He’s (PM Narendra Modi) a friend of mine. We have a great relationship…I was not happy that India was buying oil. And he assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That’s a big stop. Now we’ve got to get China to do the same thing.”“He’s a friend of mine. We have a great relationship. He just said that two days ago, as you know,” the Republican chief added.Trump made the remarks during a joint news conference with FBI director Kash Patel at the Oval Office.Trump also criticised India’s previous oil imports from Russia and said: “We were not happy with him buying oil from Russia, because that lets Russia continue on with this ridiculous war, where they’ve lost a million and a half people, by the way. Russia has lost a million and a half people, soldiers mostly.”