In an opinion piece for the Financial Times, Navarro — a close confidant of US President Donald Trump — claimed India had become a “global clearing house” for Russian crude, refining discounted oil and reselling it abroad while allowing Russia to pocket badly needed foreign currency.

In his op-ed, Navarro reiterated the claim that India's purchase of Russian oil were funding the Russia-Ukraine war.

White House trade advisor Peter Navarro said India's Russian oil buys are funding Moscow's war in Ukraine and must end, warning New Delhi is "cozying up" to Russia and China in an op-ed published Monday in the Financial Times.