‘Right to choose trading partners': Russia calls Trump's trade ‘threats' to India ‘not legal'
Responding to Trump's announcement of a 25 per cent tariff on Indian imports, Kremlin spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said, 'We hear many statements that are in fact threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia. We do not consider such statements to be legal.'
In a sharp rebuke of Trump's stance, Peskov added, '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.'
The comments came days after Trump, in a July 31 post on Truth Social, vowed to impose steep tariffs on India for what he described as 'obnoxious' trade barriers. His threat included an unspecified 'penalty' for buying Russian crude.
New Delhi has called Trump's threats 'unjustified' and vowed to protect its economic interests, deepening a trade rift between the two major economies.
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