US President Donald Trump accused India and China of being the ‘primary funders’ of the Russian invasion of Ukraine during his UN General Assembly speech on Tuesday. The remarks came even as US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said that the US administration hoped to “fix” the “measures” it has taken against India for its continued purchase of Russian oil. The top Trump aide also insisted that there had been “a lot of progress” made during talks with India on Monday.
“China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil,” Trump told the UNGA on Tuesday.
He also mocked NATO allies for not stopping purchase of Russian oil and warned of strong economic sanctions against Moscow. Trump did not elaborate but urged European nations to impose similar curbs against Moscow to ensure these tariffs were effective. According to reports, the POTUS has been considering a package that includes sanctions against countries that do business with Russia — like India and China.
“They’re funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one? In the event that Russia is not ready to make a deal to end the war, then the United States is fully prepared to impose a very strong round of powerful tariffs. But for those tariffs to be effective, European nations, all of you are gathered here right now, would have to join us in adopting the exact same measures,” he said.
‘US hopes to fix measures against India’
“I think it’s important for Europe to impose sanctions, too. Right now, there are countries in Europe that are still buying massive amounts of oil and natural gas from Russia, which is absurd. I mean, they’re asking for the US to impose more sanctions, but there are countries in Europe that are not doing enough,” Rubio told NBC Today.
The US Secretary of State also touched upon the hefty tariffs imposed against India — adding that the Trump government hoped to eventually “fix” the measures. The Trump administration has imposed an additional 25% on Delhi as a penalty for its purchases of Russian oil in late August —taking the total levies imposed on India by the US to 50% and among the highest in the world.
“We’ve already seen the measures we’ve taken with regards to India, although that’s something we hope we can fix. But – and the President has the ability to do more, and he’s considering doing more because of the direction this has taken,” he said.