India, China ‘primary funders’ of Russia’s war on Ukraine, claims Trump

United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday accused India and China of being the “primary funders” of the war on Ukraine as they were continuing to purchase Russian oil.

Speaking at the United Nations General Assembly, Trump also said that European nations should “immediately cease all energy purchases from Russia”.

“Otherwise we are all wasting a lot of time,” said the US president.

Trump’s statement came against the backdrop of strained ties between New Delhi and Washington, mainly because of Trump having imposed so-called reciprocal tariffs on Indian goods and punitive levies for purchasing Russian oil amid the Ukraine war.

Earlier on Monday, Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal met US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer in New York to accelerate the trade negotiations between the two countries, according to reports.

Negotiators from India and the US had completed a fifth round of trade talks in Washington in July. However, talks between the two countries had subsequently been stalled after the United States’ 25% “reciprocal” tariffs took effect on August 7, and an additional punitive levy of 25% took effect on August 27.

At the time, New Delhi said that it was “extremely unfortunate” that the US had chosen to impose additional tariffs on India “for actions that several other countries are also taking in their own national interest”.

In his UN speech, Trump said that European nations cannot be “buying oil and gas from Russia while they are fighting Russia”.

“It is embarrassing to them, and it was very embarrassing to them when I found out about it,” he said.

"China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil,” he added. “But inexcusably, even [North Atlantic Treaty Organisation] countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products. They’re funding the war against themselves.”

NATO is a military alliance of 32 countries, including the United States and several members of the European Union.

Earlier in the day, after meeting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, he wrote in a social media post that he believed Ukraine, with the support of the European Union, was in a position “to fight and win all of Ukraine back in its original form”.

He also claimed that Russia was in “big economic trouble”.

Tariffs on India could be ‘fixed’: US official

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said the Trump administration is hoping that it could “fix” the measures imposed on India, reported NBC Today.

“It is important for Europe to impose sanctions, too,” he said during an interview to the American news network. “Right now, there are countries in Europe still buying massive amounts of oil and natural gas from Russia, which is absurd.”

Rubio claimed that while European countries were asking the US to impose more sanctions, they were not “doing enough”.

“We have already seen the measures we have taken with regards to India, although that is something we hope we can fix,” he added.

The US secretary of state said that Trump may consider additional sanctions on Russia if the conflict escalates.

Rubio’s statements came a day after he said that the relationship with India is of “critical importance” to the United States.

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