US illegally pressurising India to cut trade ties with Russia: Kremlin fires salvo at Donald Trump
President Trump's criticism of India's Russian oil purchases sparked a diplomatic clash. The Kremlin condemned the US's attempts to coerce countries into cutting trade ties with Russia, emphasising the right of sovereign nations to choose their partners.
New Delhi: Amid US President Donald Trump's barrage of attacks against India for buying Russian oil, the Kremlin has slammed the US on Tuesday for illegally exerting trade pressure on our country.
While speaking with reporters, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, "We hear many statements that are threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia. We do not consider such statements to be legal."
'Every country has the right to choose its trading partner'
Peskov further said that Russia believes "sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their trading partners, partners for trade and economic cooperation, and to choose for themselves the forms of trade and economic cooperation that are in the interests of a particular country."
Trump's growing anti-India stance
Earlier, President Trump announced the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports. He also said that an unspecified penalty will be imposed on India for buying Russian oil, which he deemed to be supplying the funds for Putin's war with Ukraine.
Trump targeted India and said, "They have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia and are Russia’s largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine. Not all things are good! India will therefore be paying a tariff of 25%, plus a penalty for the above, starting on August 1."
However, he did not stop at that. Later, in a post on his TruthSocial account, Trump 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. 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."
How has India reacted to Trump's accusations?
India has hit out at the US over the Russian oil controversy and called the Trump administration's attacks "unjustified and unreasonable". The Ministry of External Affairs, in a statement, said that "India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security." It also accused the US and the European Union of targeting India over Russian oil row due to the Ukraine war. However, the MEA clarified in the statement that "India began importing from Russia because traditional supplies were diverted to Europe after the outbreak of the conflict. The United States at that time actively encouraged such imports by India for strengthening global energy market stability."