Russia criticises Trump's potential tariffs on India

Russia has accused the United States of putting trade pressure on India after US President Donald Trump voiced his intention to raise tariffs with India.

"We hear many statements that are in fact threats, attempts to force countries to cut trade relations with Russia. We do not consider such statements to be legal," Dmitry Peskov, spokesperson for the Russian leader, said, as quoted by Reuters.

Peskov said that Russia believes  "sovereign countries should have and do have the right to choose their own trading partners, partners for trade and economic cooperation, and to choose for themselves the forms of trade and economic cooperation that are in the interests of a particular country".

India has become the world's largest purchaser of Russian oil exported by sea, buying oil at a discount and increasing its purchases from almost zero to about a third of its imports.

Trump has repeatedly threatened secondary tariffs on buyers of Russian oil.

Last week, the US president singled out India, stating that it would face an additional punitive economic sanction over its ongoing purchases of Russian crude.

Following this, media reported that India’s largest oil refinery bought millions of barrels of oil from the US and the United Arab Emirates, amid Trump’s pledge to impose high tariffs on buyers of Russian oil.

Meanwhile, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, one of Trump’s most influential advisers, accused India of financing Russia’s war against Ukraine.