Russian Ambassador Denis Alipov on Thursday said Russia has always been willing to supply crude oil to India, despite growing concerns about the rising costs of petroleum products in light of the West Asia conflict.Responding to media about Russian crude oil supply to India amid Middle East conflict, Alipov said, “we have been open to supplying crude oil to India.”The Strait of Hormuz, a narrow shipping passage between the Persian Gulf and the Gulf of Oman that handles around 20 per cent of the world’s oil and LNG (liquefied natural gas), has been virtually shut by Iran, resulting in a spike in oil and gas prices.India imports around 88 per cent of its crude oil requirements and about 50 per cent of its natural gas requirement. These mostly come through the Strait of Hormuz.Since West Asia continues to be a significant source of energy security for New Delhi, any prolonged instability in the region is expected to be detrimental to India’s national interests.With attacks and counterattacks by both sides, the conflict has escalated considerably over the past three days. In recent weeks, India’s purchases of Russian crude oil have drastically decreased.US President Donald Trump, while announcing a trade agreement with New Delhi last month, asserted that India had agreed to refrain from purchasing crude oil from Russia. In an executive order, Trump had rolled back an additional 25 per cent tariffs on India which he imposed in August 2025 for India’s procurement of crude oil from Russia.The US, in the order, stated that it will track whether India started buying Russian oil again, either directly or indirectly, and then decide whether to re-impose a 25 per cent tariff.Meanwhile, with national interests continuing to be the “guiding factor” for the procurement, India has maintained that it will purchase oil from different sources and diversify them to ensure supply chain stability.