The punitive tax that US President Donald Trump put on India for purchasing Russian oil may have contributed to the “lot of progress” that Washington and Moscow have made in efforts to end the conflict in Ukraine.
“I don’t know if that had anything to do with it, but we’ve had very productive talks today” (with Russia), he remarked on Wednesday (local time) after imposing a 50% tax on India.
In his overall tariff battle last week, he imposed a 25 percent tax on India. This Wednesday morning, he announced an additional 25 percent duty for purchasing Russian oil.
The Indian government described it as “unfortunate” and stated that it “will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests.”
When a reporter asked him if a deal with Moscow to stop the war would mean that India’s 25% punitive tariff would be lifted, he said that it might.
“We’ll determine that later, but right now, they’re paying a 50 per cent tariff.”
Both sides expressed satisfaction with the three-hour meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Trump’s Special Envoy Steve Witkoff.
Trump stated, “We had some very good talks with President Putin today,” as the cessation of the punitive tax is contingent upon peace in Ukraine.
He went on to say, “There’s a very good chance” that they were coming to the end of the path to peace.
Trump claimed there was a “good prospect” for him, Putin, and Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, to meet in three separate countries.
Ushakov, the spokesperson for the Kremlin, stated that Witkoff and Putin had “a rather useful and constructive conversation.”
In 21 days, India’s oil tariff will go into force.
India, according to Trump, is “the second largest” importer of Russian oil and is “very close to China,” a major market.
Beijing might also be targeted, he warned, in reference to singling out India while other countries, such as China, were also purchasing Russian oil.
“It might occur. I mean, I’m not sure. I can (impose a punitive tariff), but I can’t tell you yet. With India, we succeeded. We’re most likely doing it with a few other people. China might be one of them,” he remarked.
The United States‘ imposition of “additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest” was deemed “extremely unfortunate” by New Delhi.
Trump said that the secondary tariffs, which were intended to shut off Moscow’s cash faucet, would be applied to all buyers of Russian oil, but he only imposed them on India.
He charged that New Delhi was profitably exporting goods derived from Russian oil to foreign nations.
In addition to purchasing enormous quantities of Russian oil, India is also making significant profits by selling a large portion of the oil on the open market. Earlier on Truth Social, he stated, “They don’t care how many people are being killed in Ukraine by the Russian War Machine.”
However, New Delhi has stated that “our imports are based on market factors and done with the overall objective of ensuring the energy security of 1.4 billion people of India.”
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