WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new article from the media shows that the U.S. foreign policy is complicated and seems to contradict itself. For example, the Trump administration is putting high tariffs on India while also looking into profitable energy deals with Russia.
According to an anonymous source, U.S. and Russian officials have been talking about a number of possible energy deals while they are trying to end the crisis in Ukraine. People say that these deals are being used as reasons for Moscow to commit to a peace deal and for Washington to lift some of its sanctions.
One of the ideas that was talked about was Exxon Mobil, one of the biggest oil companies in the U.S., coming back to work on Russia’s Sakhalin-1 oil and gas project. Exxon left Russia in 2022 when the government invaded Ukraine, costing the company $4.6 billion in lost business. Putin signed a decree on the same day as the Alaska summit between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin on August 15. This decree might let international investors, like Exxon Mobil, get back their holdings in Sakhalin-1 if they agree to waive Western sanctions.
There were also talks on Russia’s LNG projects that are under sanctions, and there was talk of Moscow buying American equipment for them. The U.S. buying nuclear-powered icebreakers from Russia was another idea. According to reports, these negotiations happened when U.S. ambassador Steve Witkoff visited Moscow earlier this month. He spoke with both President Putin and investment envoy Kirill Dmitriev.
The announcement of these talks comes just as the Trump administration’s 25% extra tariffs on Indian goods went into force on Wednesday, bringing the total charge on Indian imports to 50%. The tariffs were put in place because India kept buying Russian crude oil. India has labeled the levies “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable,” and Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said that his country will “withstand external pressure.”
People have criticized the U.S. for seeming to be inconsistent in its policy of punishing a strategic partner for buying Russian oil while yet making energy deals with Russia. The White House has not said anything about the details of the deals. It has only said that it “continues to engage with Russian and Ukrainian officials towards a bilateral meeting to stop the killing and end the war,” and that it is not in the U.S. interest to talk about these things in public.