US President Donald Trump said India would continue to pay “massive tariffs” if it does not stop buying Russian oil. He told reporters on board Air Force One, Reuters.
When Trump was reminded of his conversation with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who allegedly promised to stop importing Russian oil, but Delhi denied it, he replied:
“If they continue, they will pay a lot of tariffs, if they said that. But I don’t believe they said that. I had a conversation with Prime Minister Modi. He said that he would no longer buy Russian oil. I don’t know why India said that they would continue to buy Russian oil, but if they continue, they will pay huge tariffs, and they don’t want that.
As a reminder, on October 15, Trump said that India was supposedly planning to stop importing Russian oil and gas. But on October 16, the Indian Ministry of External Affairs emphasized that the purchase of oil and gas was “protecting the interests of the Indian consumer”.
Russian oil has long been one of the main points of tension in trade relations between the US and India. Half of the 50 percent tariffs that the Trump administration has imposed on Indian goods are directly related to this issue. Washington emphasizes that revenues from the sale of Russian oil help finance the war against Ukraine.
After the start of the full-scale Russian invasion in 2022, India became the largest buyer of Russian oil, which Moscow sells at significant discounts after most Western countries refused such supplies under sanctions.
