New York : US President Donald Trump on Thursday suggested that tariffs imposed on India may have played a role in Russian President Vladimir Putin agreeing to meet him in Alaska this week to discuss the war in Ukraine. Everything has an impact,” Trump said in an interview on Fox News Radio’s The Brian Kilmeade Show. Certainly, when you lose your second largest customer and you’re probably going to lose your first largest customer, I think that probably has a role, he said.
The PM Narendra Modi-led government hopes an early resolution to the conflict could help ease tensions on trade. Meanwhile, the US Treasury Secretary has warned that the Trump administration could impose additional secondary tariffs on India, with the final decision depending on the outcome of the Alaska talks. We’ve put secondary tariffs on Indians for buying Russian oil. And I could see, if things don’t go well, then sanctions or secondary tariffs could go up,” Scott Bessent.
India has called the measures “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable,” and defended its oil imports as a matter of national energy security. Talks between the two countries stalled earlier this month after Trump suspended discussions over the Russian trade issue and other disputes. Trade negotiations may resume when US negotiators arrive in New Delhi on August 25, just two days before the higher tariff rate is set to take effect. However, experts say India’s firm stance on protecting its agriculture and dairy markets remains a sticking point.
While he remained uncertain whether an immediate ceasefire could be reached, Trump said the meeting was the first step in a process that could lead to a second, more decisive round of talks involving Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. Depending on what happens with my meeting, I’m going to be calling up President Zelenskyy, and let’s get him over to wherever we’re going to meet,” he said, adding that a second meeting could address boundaries, lands, etc, etc.
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