The US President, Donald Trump, believes that imposing sanctions on Russia’s two largest oil companies will impact Kremlin’s finances. According to reports, Russian President, Vladimir Putin, has said they will not have much of an impact on its economy.

While the two battle it out, what it will do is test the diplomatic strength of big oil consumers like India and the overall vulnerability of the global oil market due to uncertainty in pricing. No sooner were the sanctions announced, there was a spike in prices before stabilising.

Technically, Indian refiners are not banned from buying Russian-origin crude, but they must avoid transactions with the sanctioned companies and their subsidiaries.

On its part, India has been maintaining the stance that its economy comes first and wherever it

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