United States President Donald Trump has threatened to impose higher tariffs on Indian imports following allegations that India is profiting off Russian oil sales amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.
In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump claimed India was reselling Russian oil for massive profits while turning a blind eye to the human cost of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
He said 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.
The post reads “they don’t care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine. Because of this, I will be substantially raising the tariff paid by India to the USA. Thank you for your attention to this matter!!!”
Since the start of the war in February 2022, India has significantly ramped up its imports of discounted Russian crude, reportedly becoming
Reacting to Western criticism in the past, Indian External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar argued that the county's purchases was in the best interest of its energy security and economic stability.
He wrote, “We don’t send people out there saying buy Russian oil, we send people out there saying go buy oil. Now, you buy the best oil you can in the market. I don’t think I would attach a political messaging to that. A country like India has to look after its own interests.”
At the India Energy Week earlier this year, Petroleum Minister Hardeep Singh Puri noted that “Europe in the same period has bought six times the energy from Russia that India has. But when we do it, there’s a geopolitical narrative.”