India, Russia retaliated after the United States has cornered the Modi government for fueling the Russian war in Ukraine
Russia accused the United States on Tuesday of exerting illegal commercial pressure on India after US President Donald Trump again threatened to raise India prices for his Russian oil purchases.
“We hear many statements that are in fact threats, try to force countries to reduce trade relations with Russia. We do not consider these statements as legal,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told journalists.
“We believe that sovereign countries should have and have the right to choose their own business partners, partners for commercial and economic cooperation, and to choose the forms of commercial and economic cooperation themselves which are in the interest of a particular country.”
Trump said that from Friday, he would impose new sanctions on Russia as well as countries that buy his energy exports, unless Moscow takes measures to end his 3 and a half year war in Ukraine.
President Vladimir Putin did not report any change in Russia’s position on the conflict, despite the imminent deadline.
New Delhi described Trump’s threats to “unjustified” and promised to protect his economic interests, deepening a commercial break between the two major economies.
“Constant intimidation and hectorage”
Two sources of the Indian government told Reuters on the weekend that India will continue to buy oil in Russia despite threats from Trump.
In a rare demonstration of unity, the Bharatiya Janata (BJP) party of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the main opposition congress condemned Trump’s repeated criticism on Tuesday to New Delhi.
The American president has promised to deploy reciprocal prices on India on April 2, calling on the high prices that India has long been implemented. CBC Salimah Shivji breaks down the prices of India, the industries that are affected and the problems with Trump’s mathematics.
Manish Tewari, a deputy for Parliament and the head of the Congress, said that the “derogatory remarks of Trump harm the dignity and self -respect of the Indians”.
“The time has come to call this constant intimidation and this hectorage,” he added.
The Indian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement published late Monday that “he reveals that the very nations criticizing India themselves engaged in trade with Russia”.
“It is unjustified to distinguish India,” said the ministry. He said that the EU had produced 67.5 billion euros (107.4 billion CDN dollars) in exchange with Russia in 2024, including importation of liquefied natural gas (LNG), which has reached 16.5 million metric tonnes.
The United States, according to the press release, continues to import Russian uranium hexafluorures for use in its nuclear industry, as well as palladium, fertilizers and chemicals. He did not give a source for export information.
The United States Embassy and the EU delegation in New Delhi did not immediately respond to a comment request.
The drop in energy prices will harm Putin: Trump
The United States and the EU have greatly reduced their business ties to Russia since it launched a large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
The sudden gap between India and the United States has been deepening since July 31, when Trump announced a 25% rate on Indian products shipped to the United States and has for the first time threatened unpertified sanctions for the purchase of Russian oil.
US President Donald Trump, appearing alongside British Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Monday, journalists told a deadline that he put on Russian President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine, adding: “We just don’t see any progress.”
“India is not only buying massive quantities of Russian oil, they are then, for a large part of the oil purchased, selling it on the free market for large profits,” said Trump in an article on social networks on Monday. “They don’t care about the number of people in Ukraine killed by the Russian war machine.”
“If energy drops enough, Putin will stop killing people,” Trump added in an interview on Tuesday morning on CNBC. “If you lower energy, an additional $ 10 a barrel (oil), it will have no choice because its stubborn economy.”
India is one of the largest gross buyers from Russia, important about 1.75 million barrels per day from January to June this year, up 1% compared to a year ago.
“What he (Trump) said very clearly is that it is not acceptable to India to continue to finance this war by buying oil from Russia,” said Stephen Miller, Deputy Chief of the White House and one of Trump’s most influential aid on Sunday.
Trump and Modi had a solid relationship in the 2017-2021 US President’s first term. But Russian oil problems, Trump’s pricing threats and the new openings of his administration in Pakistan have led to tensions in the relationship this year.
In May, India and Pakistan exchanged a series of military strikes on a massacre of firearms with a disputed cashmere for which New Delhi accused Islamabad. Pakistan denied the accusations.
The four -day conflict has made the possibility of a nuclear conflagration between the two parties, several regional and world leaders urging a de -escalation of hostilities. Since then, Trump has repeated almost two dozen times he has negotiated peace between India and Pakistan.
The European Union approved an 18th set of sanctions against Russia during its war in Ukraine, including sanctions that target the Russian oil and energy industry.
The question of Russian oil has also drawn the attention of the European Union. Nayara Energy – An Indo -Russian refinery belonging to the majority by Russian entities, including the oil of oil Rosneft Rosn.mm, and a major Russian oil buyer – was recently sanctioned by the EU.
India said that it did not support “unilateral sanctions” by the EU.
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