NATO threatens 100% secondary sanctions on India, China, Brazil over oil & gas trade with Russia
The threat of sanctions poses significant diplomatic and economic challenges, particularly for countries like India, which has markedly increased its imports of discounted Russian oil since the invasion began.
"My encouragement to these three countries, particularly is, if you live now in Beijing, or in Delhi, or you are the president of Brazil, you might want to take a look into this, because this might hit you very hard," Reuters quoted Mark Rutte telling reporters.
"So please make the phone call to Vladimir Putin and tell him that he has to get serious about peace talks, because otherwise this will slam back on Brazil, on India and on China in a massive way," Rutte added.
Rutte made the comment while meeting with senators in the US Congress the day after US President Donald Trump announced new weapons for Ukraine and threatened "biting" secondary tariffs of 100% on the buyers of Russian exports unless there is a peace deal in 50 days.
Donald Trump said on Tuesday that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky should not target Moscow and that Vladimir Putin should agree to a ceasefire deal by a 50-day deadline or sanctions will kick in.
Trump's comments came after The Financial Times, citing people briefed on discussions, reported on Tuesday that Trump had privately encouraged Ukraine to step up deep strikes on Russia.
The newspaper said that Trump asked Zelensky whether he could strike Moscow if the US provided long-range weapons. "No, he shouldn't target Moscow," Trump told reporters on the South Lawn of the White House when asked if Zelensky should attack the Russian capital.
Donald Trump on Monday announced a toughened stance against Russia for its three-year-old war in Ukraine, promising a fresh wave of missiles and other weaponry for Ukraine. He gave Moscow 50 days to reach a ceasefire or face sanctions.
The announcement set off a scramble among European officials to figure out how to make Trump's plan work and ensure Ukraine gets the weapons it needs. Later on Tuesday, Trump told reporters that some of the Patriot missiles are already on their way to Ukraine. "They're coming in from Germany," he said.
India has maintained a carefully calibrated stance amid the Russia-Ukraine war, balancing its longstanding strategic partnership with Russia against growing international pressure.
While Prime Minister Narendra Modi has openly expressed sorrow over civilian casualties in Ukraine, and described the conflict as a departure from an era of peace, India has refrained from condemning Russia outright, instead emphasising dialogue and peace.
India's approach reflects its deep defence dependence on Russia and pragmatic economic interests, including substantial imports of discounted Russian crude.
At the same time, India has abstained from key UN resolutions condemning Moscow and avoided joining Western-led sanctions, seeking to preserve strategic autonomy while advancing its own global profile.
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