Trump’s Tariff on India for Russian Oil May Have Sparked Putin Meeting – Key Facts

The President of the United States, Donald Trump on Thursday while speaking to Fox News Radio claimed that the tariffs he imposed on India for purchasing oil from Moscow may have influenced Russian President Vladimir Putin's decision to meet him.

Trump's Perspective

Trump's comments came in a day before the meeting with Putin in Alaska to discuss Moscow's war on Ukraine and this is the first meeting between the two leaders in six years.

This comment also comes as diplomatic tensions between New Delhi and Washington increased after the Trump administration on August 6 doubled the tariffs on goods imported from India to 50% for purchasing Russian oil.

India has been warned several times by Trump that the purchase of Russian oil was "fuelling the war machine."

The levies were doubled after a week of Trump announcing a 25% levy on Indian goods as part of the reciprocal tariffs on dozens of countries that have not finalised separate trade agreements with the US.

Trump told Fox News radio that he believed "everything" had an impact for the reason behind his meeting with Putin, which included when he told India that "we’re going to charge you, because you’re dealing with Russia and oil purchases".

This is what took New Delhi out of buying oil from Russia, Trump added, while noting that India was the "second-largest buyer" of Russian oil, he alleged that New Delhi "was getting pretty close to China", who was the largest importer.

According to Trump, Russia called and wanted to meet.

He added that they will see what the meeting means, but certainly, when one loses their largest customer and first largest customer that probably has a role.

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