China News Service, June 22. The "Wall Street Journal" reported on the 21st local time, citing sources, that the Indian government suggested that the state-owned oil company should buy a "large amount" of crude oil from Russia at a discount.

  The Indian government "strongly encourages" state-owned oil companies to buy crude from Russia at discounted prices, and India's state-owned oil companies are discussing more supply contracts with Rosneft, Indian oil executives said.

  An Indian government official said Russian crude was not sanctioned and many countries continued to buy it.

  India's imports of Russian oil have increased more than 25-fold since the outbreak of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, according to commodities data firm Kpler.

  Recently, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that despite the EU's restrictions on Russian oil shipments, Russia will significantly expand oil exports to markets outside the EU.

He also pointed out that given the high oil prices brought about by Western policies, Russia's budget will not suffer.

  The European Commission previously announced the sixth round of sanctions against Russia, including a partial oil embargo, sanctions on Russian tankers, banks and media.