United States President Donald Trump on Friday said that he has heard that India “is no longer going to be buying oil” from Russia, ANI reported.

“I don’t know if that’s right or not, but that’s a good step,” the news agency quoted Trump as saying. “We will see what happens.”

The comment came a day after Reuters reported on Thursday that Indian state-owned refiners had halted oil purchases from Russia over the past week.

However, on Saturday, ANI quoted unidentified Indian officials as saying that the state-owned refiners are continuing to source oil from Russian suppliers.

Trump’s remarks on Friday also came just hours after India’s Ministry of External Affairs responded to the Reuters report, stating that decisions on sourcing fuel are guided by market dynamics.

“We take decisions based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time,” ministry Spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said at a press briefing. “As for the specifics of your particular question, I am not aware of it. I don’t have details of these specifics.”

India and Russia share a “steady, time-tested partnership”, he added.

“Our ties with any country stand on their merit and should not be seen from the prism of a third country,” Jaiswal said.

India’s clarification on Friday came two days after Trump threatened to impose a “penalty” on New Delhi for buying a large portion of its military equipment and fuel from Russia amid the war on Ukraine.

The penalty would be in addition to the 25% levy Washington announced on goods imported from India, as part of the so-called reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries that have not negotiated separate trade agreements with it.

While the tariffs will take effect on August 7, the executive order signed by Trump on Thursday made no mention of the “penalty”.

On Thursday, Trump said that he does not care about “what India does with Russia” and that “they can take their dead economies down together, for all I care”.

“We have done very little business with India, their tariffs are too high, among the highest in the world,” Trump said on social media. “Likewise, Russia and the USA do almost no business together.”

On Wednesday evening, India’s commerce ministry said that New Delhi was studying the implications of the US’ decision, and that it would take all steps necessary to secure national interests.

Also read: Hares and hounds: How India bought Russian oil without angering the US