Russia has downplayed a US threat to impose heavy tariffs on its exports and its trading partners, even as Washington said it would put a 25 per cent tariff on goods from India because of New Delhi’s trade rules and big purchases of Russian arms and energy.
Donald Trump has given Russia until August 8th to reach a ceasefire with Ukraine or face “severe” tariffs on its direct exports to the US and – much more significantly – on exports to the US from countries that buy Russian oil and gas, including major customers China and India.
The US president this week brought forward the deadline from early September for progress in his bid to end Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and said he was “very disappointed” in the Kremlin’s failure to join Kyiv in accepting his call for a full ceasefire.
On Wednesday Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “We have been living under a huge number of sanctions for quite a long time, our economy operates under a huge number of restrictions.
READ MORE
“So of course we have already developed a certain immunity in this regard and we continue to note all statements that come from president Trump and from other international representatives on this issue.”
Since the start of Russia’s all-out invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Kyiv has been calling for tougher international action to stop the Kremlin replenishing its war chest with billions of euro in oil and gas sales every year.
China and India are the biggest buyers of Russian energy, often exploiting big discounts offered by Moscow since its oil sales to western states ended or sharply decreased.
Mr Trump announced on Wednesday that India would face a 25 per cent tariff on its imports to the US and an unspecified “penalty” from August 1st.
Writing on social media, he said this was a response to what he described as India’s unfair trade terms and because “they have always bought a vast majority of their military equipment from Russia, and are Russia’s largest buyer of energy, along with China, at a time when everyone wants Russia to stop the killing in Ukraine – all things not good!”
Other US officials have also warned buyers of Russian energy that they will face a dilemma if the Kremlin ignores Mr Trump’s August 8th deadline over Ukraine: end cheap oil purchases from Moscow or face spiralling costs to export goods to the US market.
“He has been patient and that may have been misinterpreted by some people. And I think the time for misinterpretation is now over,” US state department spokeswoman Tammy Bruce said.
Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Guo Jiakun said Beijing would “take reasonable measures to ensure energy security in accordance with its national interests ... Coercion and pressure will not solve the problem. China will resolutely safeguard its sovereignty, security and development interests”.
In response, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent said: “The Chinese take their sovereignty very seriously. We don’t want to impede on their sovereignty, so if they’d like to pay a 100 per cent tariff – pay it.”
While welcoming the tougher US rhetoric towards Russia, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy has faced street protests at home and heavy criticism from the European Union since signing a law last week to limit the independence of his country’s main anti-corruption agencies.
In response to the anger at home and abroad, Mr Zelenskiy sent a new Bill to parliament that he and the agencies say will shield them from political meddling.
The Bill was approved unanimously by a parliamentary committee on Wednesday. Deputies are expected to vote on it on Thursday.
