US President Donald Trump said he may have to rethink of retaliatory tariffs imposed on countries buying oil from Russia – including India – in a few weeks’ time, but did not specify when.
Trump’s remarks came shortly after concluding his high-stakes meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska. At a joint press conference after their discussion, the two Presidents, who had met primarily to discuss putting an end to the war in Ukraine, did not talk of any conclusive agreement on bringing peace to Ukraine. Trump, however, did answer a reporter's question on whether he would be going easy on countries that bought Russia's discounted crude.
"Well, because of what happened today, I think I don't have to think about that (tariffs)," Trump reportedly told Fox News' Sean Hannity after the meeting. "Now, I may have to think about it in two weeks or three weeks or something, but we don't have to think about that right now. I think, you know, the meeting went very well."
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Last month, Trump had gone on a tirade against countries buying Russian crude, including India, accusing them of indirectly funding Ukraine’s war. He then went on to increase tariffs against them, hiking duties on Indian imports to as much as 50 per cent – a 25 per cent hike from the initial 25 per cent announced in April.
Along with the secondary sanctions that he threatened to slap on countries doing trade with Russia, the US President had also warned Russia of 100 per cent tariffs if it didn’t end its war with Ukraine, giving it 50 days to agree to a deal. He then offered to broker a peace deal between the two countries, for which he invited Putin to Alaska for talks.
Also Read: No deal until a deal: Trump, Putin end talks without breakthrough
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