India Denies Sanctions Hold Back Imports of Russian Crude Oil

India’s lower imports of Russian crude oil in recent weeks were the result of unattractive discounts, not because of payment issues amid tougher U.S. sanctions on Russia’s exports, Indian Oil Minister Hardeep Singh Puri said on Wednesday.   “There is no payment problem,” Puri told a briefing in New Delhi on Wednesday, as quoted by Bloomberg. “It is a pure function of price at which our refiners will buy,” he said, adding that India’s priority is to ensure the cheapest price possible for its consumers.…