Washington, Aug 12 (UNI) Boasting about the success of his reciprocal tariff policies, US President Donald Trump said his massive sanctions on India over purchasing Russian oil have ‘dealt a big blow’ to Moscow, reports RT.

Addressing a briefing in the White House on Monday, Trump said Russia’s economy has been heavily impacted by the global pressure stemming from the imposition of US tariffs on multiple countries, many of whom are top buyers of Russian energy and weapons.

“It doesn't help when the president of the United States tells their largest or second-largest oil buyer that we're putting a 50% tariff on you if you buy oil from Russia. That was a big blow,” Trump stated, in a veiled reference to India. “No one would have been so tough and I haven’t stopped there,” he added.

Last week, the US President added an additional 25% tariffs to Indian goods, bringing his sanctions to over 50%, as a punitive measure for New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil.

Trump added that Russia had “tremendous potential to do well,” but claimed that its economy “is not doing well right now because it’s been very well disturbed by this.”

India has refused to succumb to the American pressure, with the Foreign Ministry calling the US measures "unfair" and "unjustified", and has vowed to protect its national interests.

A former Pentagon official decried the US move and said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would go down in history for standing up for his country’s rights, and that the US would learn that it can’t “kick India around.”



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