US President Donald Trump said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has assured him that India will stop buying Russian oil after the United States announced a doubling of tariffs on Indian goods over the purchases.
“So I was not happy that India was buying oil, and he (Modi) assured me today that they will not be buying oil from Russia. That’s a big step. Now we’re going to get China to do the same thing,” Trump told reporters on October 15 at the White House.
India has continued to buy Russian oil, helping to fund Moscow’s war effort in Ukraine, all while Western nations ramp up sanctions against such purchases. If India stopped buying Russian oil it would signal a major shift by one of Moscow’s top energy customers.
Trump imposed a 50 percent tariff on most exports from India in late August, doubling tariffs on Indian goods and making them among the highest for any US trading partner.
During his comments to reporters on October 15, Trump said that India could not “immediately” halt shipments of Russian oil, calling it “a little bit of a process, but that process will be over soon.” He added that India could start buying Russian oil again after the war is over.
India did not immediately confirm Trump’s comments, but Modi appeared to show a desire to repair the relationship with Trump by meeting on October 11 with the new US ambassador, Sergio Gor, hours after he arrived in New Delhi.
When the new tariff rate was imposed in August, Washington said India’s purchase of Russian oil helped fund the war in Ukraine and said New Delhi also profits from it. India had rejected the accusation as a double standard, pointing to US and European trade links with Russia.
Trump, who has been frustrated that his efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine have so far not been successful, has been seeking to leverage bilateral relationships to enforce Russian into economic isolation, rather than relying solely on multilateral sanctions.
But pressuring China by adding tariffs on its exports over its purchases of Russian oil has proved more difficult. The US trade war with Beijing has complicated diplomatic efforts, and Trump has been reluctant to risk further escalation by demanding China stop buying Russian oil.
The Kremlin on October 15 pushed back at Trump’s warning on October 14 about the “collapse” of the Russian economy, saying that Russia had considerable reserves and was strong enough to allow President Vladimir Putin to achieve his goals.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin was open to searching for a way to end the war and that Moscow was grateful to Trump for his efforts.
Ukraine’s Western supporters say that Russia’s economy is weaker than it looks and if pressure is increased then the pain of ordinary Russians will force Putin to change course.
