Russia has strongly opposed U.S. President Donald Trump’s threats to “substantially” raise tariffs on India, calling such pressure “illegal” and “illegitimate.” The Kremlin’s statement is a clear response to Trump’s recent threats to New Delhi for continuing to buy Russian energy and military goods.
Dmitry Peskov, a spokesperson for the Kremlin, talked to reporters about the subject and said, “It is against the law to try to stop countries from trading with Russia.” He stressed that independent countries have the freedom to choose their own commercial partners and that any attempts to force them to stop doing business with Russia would be considered as “threats.”
Peskov added, “We hear a lot of things that are really threats, trying to make countries stop trading with Russia.” “We don’t think these kinds of statements are legal.”
He went on to explain Moscow’s position by saying, “We believe that sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their own 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 latest attack on India has led to the Kremlin’s response. The U.S. President said on his social media account that India was buying “massive amounts” of Russian oil and selling it for a “big profit” while ignoring the war in Ukraine. He said he will “substantially” hike tariffs on Indian goods as a result.
Trump has put tariffs on goods twice already. The first time was on August 1st, when a 25% tariff went into force. Trump said he did this because he thinks India’s taxes on U.S. exports are the “highest in the world.”
India has also made a strong statement in response. The Ministry of External Affairs responded by saying that the U.S.’s threats were “unjustified and unreasonable” and that the U.S. and the European Union were being hypocritical because they were also dealing with Russia. The MEA backed up India’s actions by saying that its oil imports from Russia are “a necessity compelled by global market situation” to keep energy prices low for its customers.