International
oi-PTI
US
Vice
President
J
D
Vance
on
Sunday
said
President
Donald
Trump
has
applied
“aggressive
economic
leverage” such
as
“secondary
tariffs
on
India”
to
force
Russia
to
stop
bombing
Ukraine.
Vance
was
speaking
during
an
exclusive
interview
on
NBC
News’
‘Meet
the
Press’
when
he
also
said
the
step
would
“make
it
harder” for
the
Russians
to
get
rich
from
their
oil
economy.
U.S.
Vice
President
J.D.
Vance
stated
that
President
Donald
Trump
used
economic
leverage,
like
secondary
tariffs
on
India,
to
pressure
Russia
to
halt
its
bombing
in
Ukraine.
Vance
also
mentioned
that
the
Trump
administration
criticized
India’s
Russian
oil
purchases,
while
not
criticizing
China,
and
cited
potential
concessions
toward
ending
the
war.
The
Trump
administration
has
been
highly
critical
of
India
for
its
procurement
of
discounted
crude
oil
from
Russia.
Interestingly,
Washington
has
not
been
criticising
China,
the
largest
importer
of
Russian
crude
oil.
India
has
been
maintaining
that
its
energy
procurement,
including
from
Russia,
is
driven
by
national
interest
and
market
dynamics.
Vance
remained
confident
the
US
can
broker
an
end
to
the
war
between
Russia
and
Ukraine
despite
potential
hang-ups
that
have
emerged
since
President
Trump’s
meeting
this
month
with
Russian
President
Vladimir
Putin,
NBC
News
said.
“We
believe
we’ve
already
seen
some
significant
concessions
from
both
sides,
just
in
the
last
few
weeks,”
Vance
said
in
the
interview
aired
on
Sunday
morning.
“If
the
US
is
not
‘imposing
new
sanctions,’ what
is
the
pressure
on
Russia?
How
do
you
get
them
to
a
place
of
getting
to
the
table
with
Zelenskyy
and
stopping
to
drop
bombs?”
moderator
Kristen
Welker
asked.
“Trump
has
applied
‘aggressive
economic
leverage,’
for
example
–
secondary
tariffs
on
India,
to
try
to
make
it
harder
for
the
Russians
to
get
rich
from
their
oil
economy,” Vance
replied.
“He
tried
to
make
it
clear
that
Russia
can
be
reinvited
into
the
world
economy
if
they
stop
the
killing.
But
they
are
going
to
continue
to
be
isolated
if
they
don’t
stop
the
killing,”
he
said.
Earlier
on
April
22,
Vance
while
speaking
in
Jaipur
had
urged
India
to
drop
non-tariff
barriers,
give
greater
access
to
its
markets
and
buy
more
American
energy
and
military
hardware
as
he
laid
out
a
broader
roadmap
of
deeper
ties
between
the
two
nations
for
a
“prosperous
and
peaceful”
21st
century”.
Ever
since
Trump
doubled
tariffs
on
Indian
goods
to
a
whopping
50
per
cent,
including
a
25
per
cent
additional
duties
for
India’s
purchase
of
Russian
crude
oil,
relations
between
New
Delhi
and
Washington
are
on
a
downturn.
The
US
has
alleged
that
India’s
purchases
of
Russian
crude
oil
are
funding
Moscow’s
war
in
Ukraine,
a
charge
strongly
rejected
by
India.
New
Delhi
turned
to
purchasing
Russian
oil
sold
at
a
discount
after
Western
countries
imposed
sanctions
on
Moscow
and
shunned
its
supplies
over
its
invasion
of
Ukraine
in
February
2022.
On
Saturday,
External
Affairs
Minister
S
Jaishankar
said
at
an
event
in
New
Delhi,
“It’s
funny
to
have
people
who
work
for
a
pro-business
American
administration
accusing
other
people
of
doing
business.”
He
was
responding
to
a
question
on
the
US
criticism
of
India
on
the
crude
oil
issue.
“That’s
really
curious.
If
you
have
a
problem
buying
oil
or
refined
products
from
India,
don’t
buy
it.
Nobody
forces
you
to
buy
it.
But
Europe
buys,
America
buys,
so
you
don’t
like
it,
don’t
buy
it,” Jaishankar
said.
