 "Nato Secretary General Mark Rutte. AFP file")
Nato chief Mark Rutte has said that US President Donald Trump’s tariffs on India are immediately impacting Russia.
In an interview with journalist Christiane Amanpour, Rutte said that Vladimir Putin must be under pressure from India as well as Prime Minister would want to know how the Russian leader wants to end the war, so that his country gets the tariffs off as well.
Rutte made the point after Amanpour pointed out that Trump has not imposed any sanctions or tariffs on Russia and all measures, such as tariffs on India, are secondary actions. Rutte said that such tariffs affect Russia in a big way.
“This immediately impacts Russia because that means that Delhi is now on the phone with Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin in Moscow and Narendra Modi is asking, ‘Hey, I support you. But again, could you explain to me the strategy? Because I have now been hit by these 50 per cent tariffs by the United States.’ So President Trump is implementing what he says,” said Rutte.
To be sure, Rutte was making a point about the pressure on Putin by with a hypothetical conversation. He was not recalling an actual conversation between Modi and Putin.
Rutte, however, said that the alliance has not been happy as, despite their efforts, the Russian war on Ukraine has not ended.
Trump has slapped 50 per cent tariffs on India — the highest in the world. In addition to 25 per cent tariff initially imposed when Trump rolled out tariffs for over 60 countries and blocs, he announced 25 per cent additional tariff as a punishment for Indian purchase of Russian crude oil. In recent weeks, he and his aides have accused India of funding the Russian war on Ukraine. His aide, Peter Navarro, has repeatedly accused India of profiteering from the war by selling final petroleum products abroad after refining Russian crude oil.