Trump is threatening India again over Russian oil. What the media is writing
US President Donald Trump has threatened India with new duties due to the ongoing oil trade with Russia. New Delhi is feeling frustrated by the rapid deterioration of relations with America. At the same time, the Indian Foreign Ministry emphasizes that the United States itself continues to trade with Russia. What the media write about the new round of conflict is in the Izvestia digest.
Bloomberg: Trump promises to increase duties on Indian goods
President Donald Trump has said he will "significantly increase" duties on Indian exports to the United States in connection with its purchases of Russian oil. He did not specify how much he intends to increase tariffs. Last week, he announced a 25 percent tariff on Indian exports, one of the highest among all major economies, and promised to increase duties if India continued to buy oil from Russia.
Bloomberg
The US president's warning came ahead of the August 8 deadline for Russia and Ukraine. The administration has threatened so-called secondary sanctions against countries that buy Russian energy resources. Ukraine's allies believe that these purchases help support the economy of Russian leader Vladimir Putin and ease pressure on Moscow <...>.
India has become Trump's main target in his campaign to end the conflict. India, thanks to discounts, has become a major buyer of Russian oil. On average, the country has been buying about 1.7 million barrels per day since the beginning of the year. At the same time, in the first half of this year, India exported about 1.4 million barrels of refined fuel per day. Diesel fuel or gas oil accounted for about 40% of total fuel exports, while gasoline and its components accounted for about 30%.
BBC News: India calls Trump's threat unjustified
India called Donald Trump's threat to "significantly" increase duties on oil purchases from Russia "unjustified and unreasonable." Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said that the United States encouraged India to import Russian gas at the beginning of the conflict "to strengthen stability in global energy markets." According to him, India "began to import goods from Russia, since after the outbreak of the conflict, traditional supplies were redirected to Europe."
BBC News
India has also criticized the United States, its largest trading partner, for imposing tariffs while the United States continues to trade with Russia. Last year, the volume of U.S. trade with Russia was estimated at $3.5 billion dollars, despite tough sanctions and duties. "Like any major economy, India will take all necessary measures to protect its national interests and economic security," the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
According to Bloomberg sources, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not order refineries to stop buying Russian oil. Ajay Srivastava, a former Indian trade official, said Trump's claims about oil trade between India and Russia are misleading for several reasons. According to him, India increased its oil purchases to stabilize global markets after Western sanctions led to supply disruptions, which helped stem the global oil price shock.
Associated Press: Trump and Modi once called each other friends
In India, the friendly relationship between Modi and Trump was considered truly unique. They hugged each other tightly, showered each other with praises, and appeared side by side at stadium rallies. Each of them called the other a good friend. This continued until a series of events prevented them. From Trump's tariffs and India's purchases of oil from Russia to the U.S. rapprochement with Pakistan, the tension between New Delhi and Washington is hard to miss.
Associated Press
And much of this happened far from the corridors of power and, unsurprisingly, through Trump's social media posts. This led political experts to wonder if the friendly relationship between the two leaders was a thing of the past, even though Trump did not mention Modi directly on social media. Some believe that the decline in trust threatens the strategic bilateral relations that have been building for decades.
Trump's latest statements reflect his frustration with the pace of trade negotiations with India. According to the source, the president is not seeking any strategic reorientation in relations with Pakistan, but instead is trying to take a tough stance in the negotiations. These reports offended the Modi administration, which actively promoted negotiations with the Trump team on a trade deal, balancing India's protectionist system and opening the country's market to more American goods.
The Guardian: Trump's demand puts Modi in a difficult position
On August 3, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, who adheres to a hard line, did not hold back and aimed directly at India, saying that Trump had made it clear that it was unacceptable for India to continue to "finance" the conflict in Ukraine by buying oil from Russia. The corridors of New Delhi have been experiencing shock in recent days, because until recently, India viewed the United States as one of its strongest and most reliable partners, with growing cooperation in all areas.
The Guardian
The united geopolitical desire to balance China's power has only brought them closer together under the last presidents. However, India could not help but notice that China, another major buyer of sanctioned Russian oil, which also has leverage over the United States in the form of rare earth metals, has not received such threats, as has Turkey.
Trump's actions were met coolly, if not openly defiant, by Indian officials. As part of its non-aligned foreign policy, India has maintained a close partnership with Russia for decades, while strengthening ties with the United States. Washington generally accepted this position. It is widely believed among analysts that Trump has put Modi in an unenviable position: either agree to Trump's demands and lose face domestically, or reject them and face sky-high tariffs (and possibly other punitive measures) that will damage the Indian economy.
CNBC: India criticizes EU and US for trade with Russia
India said it had been "attacked" by the United States and the European Union for importing Russian oil. In a statement, the country's Foreign Ministry said that India began importing oil from Russia only after "traditional supplies" were redirected to Europe due to the outbreak of the conflict in Ukraine in 2022. The agency stressed that the United States and the European Union themselves continue to trade with Russia.
CNBC
According to the European Commission, the EU's bilateral trade turnover with Russia in 2024 amounted to €67.5 billion, and the volume of trade in services in 2023 amounted to €17.2 billion. Referring to these figures, India stated that the trade turnover of the bloc "significantly exceeds" the total volume of India's trade with Russia. Data from the Indian Embassy in Moscow showed that the volume of bilateral trade between New Delhi and Moscow reached a record $68.7 billion in the year ended March 2025, almost 5.8 times the pre-pandemic trade volume of $10.1 billion.
The EU became Russia's third largest trading partner in 2024, accounting for 38.4% of the country's total global trade in goods, which allowed it to lose its position as Moscow's leading partner in 2020. The volume of trade in goods between the EU and Russia decreased by almost 74% in 2024 from €257.5 billion in 2021.
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