Amidst ambiguity over whether India would continue to purchase Russian oil after reaching a trade deal with the US, Russia is reportedly turning to China, its primary buyer. This comes as Russian President Vladimir Putin made an emergency phone call to Chinese President Xi Jinping two days ago, which analysts described as a result of “energy economics”.
Russia’s crude is being offered in China at widening discounts to attract Chinese refiners, Reuters quoted trade sources. It added that the discount of the ESPO blend that Russia ships from the Kozmino port in the Far East widened to almost $9 per barrel to ICE Brent, up from the $7–$8 a barrel discount of the past months.
There are also reports that the Urals crude, which was primarily shipped to India, is now partially diverted to China, and the discount on the same has reached $12 per barrel.
The discount on Urals crude, which from western Russian ports was primarily shipped to India but is now being partially diverted to China, reached $12 per barrel. There are also reports that the discounts offered to Indian refiners have widened over the last 10 days, with Russia’s flagship Urals grade being offered at more than $10 a barrel below Brent.
Also read: Russia plays its trump card to keep India on its side: ‘Deeper discounts'
China, too, is reportedly taking advantage of the Indian stance to reduce Russian oil."In recent months, Chinese buyers have been taking advantage of discounts on Russian oil, leading some to even reduce their purchases of Iranian crude in favour of importing more Russian," Vortexa analyst Emma Lee told reporters . "This trend is likely to continue in the near term, given India's ongoing purchase cuts, which will likely lead to even deeper discounts."
China and India are Russia’s biggest buyers, with India accounting for 38% of Russian crude oil exports in December 2025, according to data from the Centre for Research on Energy and Clean Air (CREA). China was the largest buyer, with 47%. Turkey and the EU each accounted for 6%.
China is also offsetting the loss from the Indian side by buying more Russian oil. As per data, from 2025 to November, India's average daily purchases ranged from 1.4 million to 2 million barrels, while China's ranged from 1 million to 1.3 million. However, in January 2026, India purchased only 1.1 million, while China purchased 1.65 million. This was China's largest purchase since March 2024 and its second largest since the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
Amid all these, Putin held an emergency conversation with Chinese President Xi Jinping, who also rang up US President Donald Trump on the same day, which analysts say is a result of the current energy equations.
Shi Yinhong, a professor of international relations at Renmin University in Beijing, told South China Morning Post that the two high-level conversations were “rare but understandable” and mostly a result of “energy economics”.
In the phone call that came a day after the trade deal, Putin underscored the fact that Russia was “the leading supplier of energy resources” to China, adding that “our energy partnership is mutually beneficial and truly strategic”, hinting at how the trade deal is worrying him.