US President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued a fresh warning, saying he hasn’t done “phase two yet or phase three” sanctions against India for buying Russian oil.
Donald Trump, while participating in a bilateral meeting in the Oval Office with Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki, bristled at a Polish reporter’s question that he had expressed frustration and disappointment with Russian President Vladimir Putin but had not taken any action.
“How do you know there’s no action? Would you say that putting secondary sanctions on India, the largest purchaser outside of China, they’re almost equal, would you say there was no action? That cost hundreds of billions of dollars to Russia. You call that no action?” Trump replied.
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The US president further responded: “And I haven’t done phase two or phase three yet. But when you say there is no action, I think you ought to get yourself a new job.”
Trump said that two weeks ago, he said, “If India buys, India’s got big problems, and that’s what happens. So, don’t tell me about that.”
A White House official told news agency AFP that Trump will speak with Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday, after the Ukrainian President and European leaders said earlier that they expected a call.
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“I have no message to President Putin, he knows where I stand, and he will make a decision one way or the other,” Trump told reporters in the Oval.
“Whatever his decision is, we will either be happy about it or unhappy. And if we are unhappy about it, you will see things happen,” Trump added.
When asked about Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un with Chinese President Xi Jinping at China’s military parade and whether he is considering slapping secondary sanctions on Moscow, Trump said, “Well, I have already done that with regard to India, and we are doing it with regard to other things.”
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Trump has imposed 25 per cent reciprocal tariffs on India and an additional 25 per cent levies for Delhi’s purchases of Russian oil, bringing the total duties imposed on India to 50 per cent, with effect from August 27.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi has asserted he would not compromise on the interests of farmers, cattle-rearers, small-scale industries, cautioning “pressure on us may increase, but we will bear it”.
India has called the tariffs imposed by the US “unjustified and unreasonable”.
