Donald Trump Softens Stance On Russia Oil Buyers After Putin Meet, Says Alaska Summit With Putin Went Well

16th August 2025 at 12:44 PM

1 minute read

New Delhi : US President Donald Trump said he was not immediately considering secondary sanctions on Russia and its trade partners. Trump softened his stance on Russia after talks with President Putin over the Ukraine war, saying the Alaska summit went well, rating it a 10/10.

Trump stumped New Delhi with an additional 25% levy on Indian goods over its continued purchase of Russian oil. It doubled the overall duty on Indian imports to 50%. He also warned countries buying Russian oil that secondary sanctions were also on the horizon. China and India are the top two buyers of Russian oil.

However, India has clarified that there has been no pause in Russian oil imports following Trump’s threats. Trump and Putin left Alaska without reaching an agreement for a ceasefire in Ukraine after an almost three-hour meeting. In the interview with Fox, Trump stressed that it was now up to Ukrainian President Vlodymyr Zelenskyy to get a deal done, along with European involvement. “Make a deal,” Trump urged Zelenskyy.

Trump’s latest remarks on retaliatory tariffs follow US treasury secretary Scott Bessent’s threat that the country could increase the secondary tariffs on India if “things don’t go well” in the meeting between the President and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in Alaska.

In an interview with Bloomberg TV, Bessent said, “We’ve put secondary tariffs on Indians for buying Russian oil. And I could if things don’t go well, then sanctions or secondary tariffs could go up.” Bessent had earlier said that India was being “a bit recalcitrant” in the ongoing trade negotiations with the US.

India had earlier clarified that the relationship it shares with the US is broad, with trade just being one part of it. Before that, the Ministry of External Affairs had urged that the relationship between countries not be seen through the prism of a third one.