'India Cutting Back On Russian Oil': Trump Reiterates Claim As He Targets 'Complete Deal' With China
Trump, speaking to reporters enroute to Asia for meetings with leaders, said he hopes his talks with China would yield “a complete deal.”
US President Donald Trump reiterated that India is 'completely cutting back' on Russian oil imports, following US sanctions on two major oil companies in Moscow—Roseneft and Lukoil, Bloomberg reported. Trump, speaking to reporters enroute to Asia for meetings with leaders, said he hopes his talks with China would yield “a complete deal.”
Trump's remarks on the oil sanctions come after his repeated claims that India would not engage in the Russian oil trade. Earlier, he said PM Modi had assured him India would stop purchasing Russian oil after the US levied additional tariff hikes on India over continued Russian oil purchases.
US-China trade relations
An increasingly acrimonious standoff between the US and China over trade, tech and raw material restrictions has raised the stakes for Trump’s trip to Asia. Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping plan to meet during an Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Gyeongju, South Korea.
Trump said Saturday that China had cut back on buying Russian oil. On Friday, Chinese state-owned companies including Sinopec canceled some purchases of Russian seaborne crude after the US blacklisted Rosneft PJSC and Lukoil PJSC.
“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.
Trump said he was hopeful about talks with Xi, saying they’ll discuss the agriculture sector and China’s exporting of components of fentanyl. The meeting would be the first face-to-face between the leaders of the two biggest economies since Trump returned to the White House in January.
The two have spoken at least three times this year and Trump has said direct talks are the best way to resolve issues including tariffs, export curbs, agricultural purchases, fentanyl trafficking, geopolitical flashpoints such as Taiwan and the war in Ukraine.
“We’ll be talking about a lot of things. I think we have a really good chance of making a very comprehensive deal,” he said. Trump was less certain that the Russian president would work with him to end the war in Ukraine.
Trump on Russia-Ukraine war
“I’m not going to be wasting my time,” Trump said of canceled talks with Putin. “I’ve always had a great relationship with Vladimir Putin, but this has been very disappointing.” With Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in its fourth year, US imposed its first major sanctions on Russia's petroleum ministry. Earlier, Trump backed off plans for a proposed meeting with Putin in Hungary.
