Did New Tariff On India Influence US-Russia Talks On Ukraine? What Trump Said

US President Donald Trump on Wednesday said Washington and Moscow have made a "lot of progress" towards his goal of ending the Ukraine War and speculated America's hefty tariffs on India over the purchase of Russian oil may have something to do with it. Trump has told European allies that he plans to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as soon as next week, in a bid to bring peace between the two warring nations.

The effort to convene a meeting of the three leaders came hours after Trump doubled tariffs on Indian goods to 50 per cent as punishment for its purchases of Russian energy.  It also followed Putin's three-hour-long meeting with US special envoy Steve in Moscow. 

"We put a 50 per cent tariff on India," Trump said in a social media post. "I don't know if that had anything to do with it, but we've had very productive talks today (with Russia)," he added, while still leaving open the possibility of further penalties on Moscow's oil revenues.

He accused New Delhi of selling to other countries the products made from Russian oil at a high profit.

"India is not only buying massive amounts of Russian Oil, they are then, for much of the Oil purchased, selling it on the Open Market for big profits. They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine," he said earlier on Truth Social.

Asked by a reporter if the 25 per cent punitive tariff on India would end if there was an agreement with Moscow on ending the war, he indicated it could happen.

"We'll determine that later, but right now, they're paying a 50 per cent tariff."

Described as secondary tariffs aimed at turning off Moscow's cash spigot, Trump had said they were to apply to all purchasers of Russia's oil, but he only hit India with them. He described India as "the second largest" Russian oil buyer, "very close to China," a top market. 

On singling out India while others, including China, were also buying Russian oil, he said Beijing could also be targeted.

"It may happen. I mean, I don't know. I can't tell you yet, but I can (impose a punitive tariff). We did it with India. We're doing it probably with a couple of others. One of them could be China," he said.

Threat Of More Tariffs Looms

As per a report by Bloomberg, US officials are weighing additional actions to choke off energy sales that are a key source of funds for Russia's war effort in Ukraine. One of the measures that the Trump administration is reportedly considering is new sanctions on Moscow's covert fleet of oil tankers and several entities that enable them to operate.

He announced a 25 per cent tariff on India in his general tariff war last week, and on Wednesday morning, he announced an extra 25 per cent tariff for buying Russian oil.

India's Response

India has called Trump's new tariffs "unfortunate", said it "will take all actions necessary to protect its national interests." New Delhi said it was "extremely unfortunate" that the US was imposing "additional tariffs on India for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest."

The oil tariff in New Delhi is to take effect in 21 days.

New Delhi has made clear 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."