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'Right to choose': After India, Russia hits out at Trump, says countries free to decide trading partners

The Kremlin denounced President Trump's tariff threat against India over its Russian oil imports, calling it 'illegitimate' interference. read more The Kremlin slammed US President Donald Trump on Tuesday for threatening to hike taxes on India over its imports of Russian oil, a vital source of cash for Moscow's military offensive in Ukraine. Trump has given Moscow until Friday to make headway on a peace accord with Kyiv or face further economic penalties, including consequences for nations who buy Russia's key oil and gas exports. Trump warned India with hefty tariffs on Monday, leading New Delhi to label any such move as 'unjustified and unreasonable'. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Russia reiterated the criticism on Tuesday. 'Sovereign countries have the right to choose their own trading partners,' Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters. 🚨🇮🇳🇷🇺 Sovereign nations have RIGHT TO CHOOSE their own trading partners: Kremlin on India's purchase of Russian oil — Sputnik India (@Sputnik_India) August 5, 2025 Without naming Trump, he criticised calls to 'force countries to sever trading relations' with Russia as 'illegitimate'. Ukraine's Western allies have sought to hobble Russia's export earnings since Moscow launched its military offensive in February 2022. But Russia has been able to redirect energy sales away from Europe to other countries including India and China, ensuring the multibillion-dollar flow of funds has continued. Trump has not levied new sanctions on Moscow since he returned to the White House in January. He has forced the two sides to open direct peace talks for the first time in more than three years, but three rounds of negotiations in Istanbul have failed to make any meaningful progress.