India rejects Trump threat over Russian oil

Children in India draw posters about U.S.-India relations under President Donald Trump

(Image credit: Ashish Vaishnav / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images)

What happened

President Donald Trump Monday said he would "substantially" raise tariffs on India for "buying massive amounts of Russian oil" and "selling it on the open market for big profits," elaborating on his threat last week to impose a penalty on top of a 25% tax for Indian imports. "They don't care how many people in Ukraine are being killed by the Russian War Machine," he said on social media Monday.

Who said what

India's foreign ministry called Trump's "targeting" of the country "unjustified and unreasonable," and said New Delhi would "take all necessary measures to safeguard its national interests and economic security." China, the other top buyer of Moscow's oil, last week also rejected Trump's tariffs-linked demand to cut back on Russian imports.

Despite India's "defiance," its "main refiners paused buying Russian oil last week," Reuters said. But the "unpredictability of the Trump administration" makes negotiating difficult. "Given the wild fluctuations in Trump's policies," the U.S. "may return to high fives and hugs" with India, or even Russia, Sreeram Chaulia of New Delhi's Jindal School of International Affairs told The Associated Press.

What next?

Trump's oil outbursts "reflect his frustration with the pace of trade talks with India" and are mostly about "trying to play hardball in negotiations," the AP said, citing a White House official. Trump has also set a Friday deadline for Russia to halt its bombing of Ukraine or face new sanctions, though President Vladimir Putin has so far "shown no public sign of altering his stance," Reuters said.

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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.