US President Donald Trump has claimed that the drastic tariffs levied by the United States on India for its oil imports from Russia have done drastic damage to Moscow's already battered economy.
Speaking to the press at the White House, Trump indicated that Russia's stability in the economic arena has been disturbed because of the increasing global challenges coupled with the American trade sanctions applied to many countries, including India.
"I think Russia has to get back into building their country. It's a massive country... They have tremendous potential in Russia to do well. They're not doing well. Their economy is not doing well right now because it's been very well disturbed by this," he said.
"Doesn't help when the President of the United States tells their largest or second-largest oil buyer that we're putting a 50 per cent tariff on you if you buy oil from Russia. That was a big blow," Trump said, in an apparent reference to India.
He went on to declare, "No one else would have been so tough, and I haven't stopped there." The remarks came days after Trump called New Delhi and Moscow dead economies.
Washington has levied a 25 per cent reciprocal tariff on India and a further 25 per cent tariff on imports of Russian oil, resulting in overall 50 per cent tariff.
According to the US president, not only have the tariffs generated revenue for the US, but they have also played a role “in solving” five global conflicts, including India and Pakistan, one of the most chronic conflicts in the world.
"The tariffs have helped, gives us not only the money, but it gives us great power over enemies. We solved five wars- Pakistan and India. Azerbaijan and Armenia- it was raging for 37 years, and the two leaders got up and they said, we never thought this would be solved. Russia tried to solve it. They all tried to solve it. It was a very tough situation, but we got it done," he said.
When questioned about the prospect of restoring normal trade ties between Washington and Moscow, Trump said such a scenario could be possible if Russia abandons its course of war.
"Russia has a very valuable piece of land. If Vladimir Putin would go toward business instead of toward war, you know, it's a warring nation. That's what they do. They fight a lot of wars. A friend of mine said Russia is tough because they just keep on fighting. They beat Hitler. So did we," he said.
On the possibility of a truce between Russia and Ukraine, Trump said, "Well, we're going to have a meeting with Vladimir Putin. And at the end of that meeting, probably in the first two minutes, I'll know exactly whether or not a deal can be made."
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