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

New York/Washington |US President Donald Trump has claimed that the tariffs imposed on India for purchasing oil from Russia have influenced Moscow's decision to seek a meeting with Washington, as the country was losing its “second largest customer”.

The comments come ahead of Trump's high-profile meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, scheduled for Friday in Anchorage, Alaska.

In an interview with Fox News on Thursday, Trump said, "I think everything has an impact," and claimed that when he told India that "we're going to charge you, because you're dealing with Russia and oil purchases", it "essentially took them out of buying oil from Russia".

"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.

India on Thursday said it has not halted oil purchases from Russia in response to the US President's tariff threat and continues to buy based solely on economic considerations.

Trump last week announced an additional 25 per cent tariff on US imports from India -- raising the overall duty to 50 per cent -- as a penalty for the country's continued imports of Russian oil. The tariffs will come into effect from August 27.

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.