US President Donald Trump on Saturday repeated his claim that India is cutting its Russian oil imports. He said this while increasing pressure on Moscow to stop its war in Ukraine.
Recently, Trump imposed sanctions on two major Russian oil companies — Rosneft and Lukoil. He accused Russia of using oil money to fund the war.
Trump made these remarks before his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping in South Korea. Speaking to reporters on Air Force One, he said he hoped the talks would lead to a “complete deal,” Bloomberg reported.
Pressure on China and Russia
Trump’s Asia tour comes at a time of rising tension between the US and China. The two nations are at odds over trade, technology, and raw material restrictions. Both sides face pressure to end their trade war.
When reporters asked if Trump would raise China’s Russian oil purchases with Xi, he said yes.
“I may be discussing it, but you know China’s — you probably saw today — China is cutting back very substantially on the purchase of Russian oil, and India is cutting back completely, and we’ve done sanctions,” Trump said.
India, however, has rejected Trump’s claims. New Delhi said it will keep its energy policy focused on “protecting national interests.”
Trump Stays Hopeful on Talks with Xi
Trump sounded confident about his discussions with China. He said he would talk about agricultural trade and China’s role in the fentanyl crisis.
“I want our farmers to be taken care of, and he wants things also. We’re going to be talking about fentanyl. It is killing a lot of people, a lot of people, it comes from China,” Trump said while heading to Asia.
Earlier Claims on India’s Oil Imports
This is not Trump’s first claim about India cutting Russian oil. Earlier, he said India had promised to reduce Russian oil imports by the end of the year.
“India, as you know, has told me they are going to stop…it’s a process. You can’t just stop (buying oil from Russia). By the end of the year, they’ll be down to almost nothing; almost 40 per cent of the oil,” Trump said.