Trump aide accuses India of financing Russia's war on Ukraine
'What he [Trump] said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia,' said Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House and one of Trump's most influential aides.
'People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That's an astonishing fact,' Miller said on Fox News' 'Sunday Morning Futures.'
Trump threatened last week a 25 percent tariff on India over its purchase of Russian oil, which is set to go into effect on August 7, a White House official told The Hill. A bipartisan bill in the Senate calls for a 500 percent tariff on India if Russia fails to halt its war against Ukraine, but sponsors of the bill said they would support Trump imposing one-fifth of that penalty.
While some state-owned refineries reportedly paused Russian oil imports in the wake of Trump's threat, India's Foreign Ministry on Saturday signaled it was not going to accept conditions on which countries it sources energy from.
'We take decisions based on the price at which oil is available in the international market and depending on the global situation at that time,' Shri Randhir Jaiswal, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, told reporters on Friday.
'As far as India-Russia relations are concerned, we have a steady and time-tested partnership.'
India bought 68,000 barrels per day of crude oil from Russia in January 2022, but by June of that year, oil imports rose to 1.12 million barrels per day, the Associated Press reported. The daily imports peaked at 2.15 million in May 2023 and have varied since.
The country began increasing its imports of Russian oil after an international price cap – imposed to punish Russia over its war in Ukraine – made it a more affordable option over imports of oil from the Middle East.
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