In a development that could have ramifications for India, US President Donald Trump on Sunday said he's ready for another round of sanctions on Russia over the war in Ukraine. “Yeah, I am,” he told reporters when asked about it at the White House.
He said no more. But there's key context from just hours earlier, suggesting that the US is moving towards more tariffs and other squeezes on Moscow, and/or its oil buyers such as India.
What US treasury secretary said
Trump's “yeah” followed US treasury secretary Scott Bessent's call for more sanctions on countries that buy oil from Russia — India has been prominent on this list — to ensure the "collapse” of the Russian economy.
Bessent argued that only such a collapse could now force Vladimir Putin into talks with Ukraine. Trump's mediation to bring about peace hasn't really worked so far, despite a summit with Putin in Alaska. The war has, in fact, escalated since.
This newest set of events came just a couple of days after President Trump and PM Narendra Modi had a mutual-appreciation moment through the press and social media.
{{/usCountry}}This newest set of events came just a couple of days after President Trump and PM Narendra Modi had a mutual-appreciation moment through the press and social media.
{{/usCountry}}Also read | ‘Modi friends with Trump, but enemy of nation’: Mallikarjun Kharge on US tariffs
In his reference to “countries that buy Russian oil”, Bessent did not name any as such, but India is the biggest target of US tariffs over this issue. “If the US and the EU can come in with more sanctions, more secondary tariffs on the countries that buy Russian oil, the Russian economy will be in full collapse and that will bring President Putin to the table,” Bessent told NBC.
Russia is already under crippling sanctions from both the US and Europe since the start of the war, but has found customers for its oil and gas in India, China and elsewhere, ensuring a revenue flow.
Top US officials, including Vice President JD Vance, have said the US wants to squeeze this revenue stream. That's why they have called the Ukraine conflict “Modi's war”, with Trump himself having accused India of “fueling the Russian war machine”.
Vance has pointedly said the tariffs on India are “leverage” against Putin.
India has questioned the logic of the 25% “penal” tariff — meaning a total US import duties of 50% on most Indian goods — and argued that it's been buying the oil only in its sovereign national interest.
Also read| ‘Has a mercurial temper’: Shashi Tharoor's note of caution on Trump-Modi ties
Meanwhile, the war on Ukraine grew graver on Sunday as Russia bombed the main government complex in Kyiv.