Tariffs on India-Russia oil deal 'big blow' to Moscow: Trump
What's the story
United States President Donald Trump has claimed that American tariffs on India for buying Russian oil have dealt a "big blow" to Moscow's economy. He made the statement at a White House press conference, calling India one of Russia's "largest or second-largest oil buyers." "I think Russia has to get back into building their country....They have tremendous potential in Russia to do well... They're not doing well right now because it's been very well disturbed by this," he said.
Tariff impact
Trump says telling India about tariffs was a 'big blow'
He went on to say, "No one else would have been so tough, and I haven't stopped there." The Trump administration has imposed 25% reciprocal tariffs on India, along with an additional 25% levy on its purchases of Russian oil. This brings the total tariff to a staggering 50%. New Delhi has strongly opposed the increase in tariffs, calling them "unfair, unjustified and unreasonable."
Trump
'US solved 5 wars'
The tariffs, Trump said, have helped the US not only in generating revenue but also "gives us great power over enemies." "We solved five wars- Pakistan and India. Azerbaijan and Armenia- it was raging for 37 years, and the two leaders got up and they said, we never thought this would be solved. Russia tried to solve it....It was a very tough situation, but we got it done," he said.
Upcoming meeting
Trump to meet Putin in Alaska on Friday
Trump is set to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday. He said he found it "very respectful" that Putin was coming to the US for their meeting. The US President hopes for "constructive conversations" during this meeting. Afterward, he plans to engage with European leaders and facilitate talks between Putin and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.