US President Donald Trump has made a complete U-turn on his stance on the Russia-Ukraine war, stating that he is “very angry, pissed off” with Russian President Vladimir Putin.In an interview with NBC, Trump said he was angered by Putin questioning Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s credibility.“If Russia and I are unable to make a deal on stopping the bloodshed in Ukraine, and if I think it was Russia’s fault, which it might not be, but if I think it was Russia’s fault, I am going to put secondary tariffs on oil, on all oil coming out of Russia,” he said.He warned that tougher sanctions on Russia “would be that if you buy oil from Russia, you can’t do business in the United States.”“There will be a 25 per cent tariff on all… on all oil, a 25 to 50-point tariff on all oil,” he added.Tariff escalation against Russia and countries doing business with them could be hugely problematic for India. If Putin fails to fall in line and Trump were to go ahead with this threat, India would be unable to do business in the US, as Russia remains its largest oil supplier.According to a CREA report, India purchased fossil fuels worth EUR 205.84 billion from Russia from the start of the war until 2 March 2025. This included EUR 112.5 billion (USD 121.59 billion) for crude oil, which is refined into fuels like petrol and diesel, and EUR 13.25 billion for coal. India, which relies on imports for over 85 per cent of its crude oil needs, spent USD 232.7 billion on crude imports in 2022-23 (April 2022 to March 2023) and USD 234.3 billion in 2023-24. Trump also said he planned to speak with Putin in the coming week.He also suggested that Putin’s remarks about the need for new leadership in Ukraine could delay peace negotiations. “New leadership means you’re not gonna have a deal for a long time, right?” he said.Despite his frustrations with Putin, Trump said he had recently spoken with the Russian leader and maintained that he still had “a very good relationship with him.”
Source link
