MOSCOW, March 23. /TASS/. Like many countries India is considering an option of scaling up oil purchases from Russia, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko told reporters.

"It’s a fact that they are intent on capitalizing on the waiver Trump granted them. And it’s not just India, by the way. Many countries are already looking to scale up their purchases of our energy resources," the deputy foreign minister told TASS.

Earlier, the US Treasury Department lifted sanctions on the sale of oil and petroleum products from Russia loaded onto vessels before March 12. A general license issued by the agency's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) authorizes such transactions until April 11.

On March 14, US President Donald Trump stated in an interview with NBC News that Washington plans to reinstate sanctions on Russian oil after energy prices, which have risen due to the Middle East conflict, return to normal.