India will gradually reduce Russian oil purchases: Bessent
A senior State Department official also said that both sides were engaged in “structured” conversations with a positive outcome expected in a few weeks
India will gradually reduce its purchases of Russian energy, opined US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent during a television interview on Wednesday. Bessent’s comments come even as both sides are engaged in talks on the issue of Russian energy, which has caused significant turbulence in the bilateral relationship.
“President [Donald] Trump unilaterally put 25% tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. I think we are going to see the Indians slowly wean themselves off that,” Bessent said on Fox News, before criticising European nations for purchasing Indian refined energy.
Bessent’s comments came even as India’s External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar met with Secretary of State Marco Rubio in New York. According to a senior State Department official, India’s purchases of Russian oil were a key point of discussion during their talks. India faces a 50% tariff - including a 25% penalty - for its energy ties to Russia.
The senior official also said that both sides were engaged in “structured” conversations with a positive outcome expected on the issue in a matter of a few weeks. Sergio Gor, Trump’s nominee to be the next US Ambassador to India, told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee earlier in September that a resolution was expected soon. The official added that Washington hopes for India to reduce purchases from Russia to zero over some time.
Washington has also been pushing for European nations and G7 partners to join it in placing sanctions on Russia and countries that purchase energy from Moscow. This could include a 50-100% tariff on China for its support to Russia in the Ukraine war.
“China and India are the primary funders of the ongoing war by continuing to purchase Russian oil, but inexcusably, even Nato countries have not cut off much Russian energy and Russian energy products, which as you know I found out about two weeks ago and I wasn’t happy. Think of it. They’re funding the war against themselves. Who the hell ever heard of that one?” Trump said during his speech at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
“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 which would stop the bloodshed, I believe very quickly, 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,” Trump went on to say.
