Tariffs on India over Russian oil prompted Moscow to seek talks with US: Trump

US President Donald Trump has claimed that tariffs imposed on India over its purchase of Russian oil played a role in prompting Moscow to request a meeting with Washington.

Speaking to Fox News ahead of his scheduled meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Anchorage, Alaska, Trump said that after he told India “we’re going to charge you” for dealing with Russia on oil, the move “essentially took them out of buying oil from Russia.”

Trump claimed this loss of India — which he described as Russia’s second-largest oil customer — likely pressured Moscow, especially as it risked losing its biggest buyer as well. He added that “everything has an impact” and that the upcoming talks would reveal the significance of the shift.

"And then they (Russia) called, and they wanted to meet. We're going to see what the meeting means. But certainly, when you lose your second largest customer, and you're probably going to lose your first largest customer, I think that probably has a role.

"India was the second largest, and getting pretty close to China. China is the largest (purchaser of Russian oil)," the US president said.

Indian refiners can do without Russian oil, but with trade-offs

India has rejected Trump’s claim that it stopped buying Russian oil due to American tariff threats, saying its purchases remain guided entirely by economic considerations.

The clarification came after Trump announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on US imports from India — bringing the total duty to 50 per cent — as a penalty for what he described as India’s continued imports of Russian crude. The new tariffs are set to take effect on 27 August.

Officials in New Delhi stressed that India’s energy sourcing decisions are based on securing the best deals for the country and are not influenced by external political pressure.

Since the steep tariffs are likely to hit the USD 40 billion of non-exempt exports that India does to the US, there has been chatter around stopping or curtailing oil imports from Russia.

However, AS Sahney, Chairman of Indian Oil Corporation (IOC), the country's largest oil firm, has clarified that there is "no pause" on Russian oil imports, and India's intent to continue buying Russian oil remains unchanged.

"We continue to buy, purely based on economic considerations, that is to say if the pricing and characteristics of the crude make sense in our scheme of processing, we buy," he told reporters in New Delhi.

Responding to the US tariffs, the Ministry of External Affairs had said that the targeting of India is unjustified and unreasonable.

“Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security,” it said.

Trump has said that India’s purchasing of Russian oil is “fuelling” the war machine.

With PTI inputs