‘Financing war against itself’: US slams Europe over Russian oil as India-EU trade deal nears
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "‘Financing war against itself’: US slams Europe over Russian oil as India-EU trade deal nears")
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent Photograph: (AFP)
This comes as India and the European Union inch closer to signing the historic Free Trade Agreement, which has been described as “mother of all deals”.
US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent has alleged that Europe is financing the “war” against itself by purchasing Russian oil products from India. He accused EU leaders of funding Russia’s war in Ukraine over the crude purchases. He further claimed that the EU has avoided imposing tariffs on India to protect trade negotiations with India, contrasting with tariffs imposed by Washington on New Delhi. This comes as India and the European Union inch closer to signing the historic Free Trade Agreement, which has been described as “mother of all deals”.
“We have put 25 per cent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil. Guess what happened last week? The Europeans signed a trade deal with India. And just to be clear again, the Russian oil goes into India, the refined products come out, and the Europeans buy the refined products. They are financing the war against themselves,” he told ABC News in an interview on Sunday (Jan 25).
Bessent’s remarks come ahead of the Free Trade Agreement between India and the European Union, which is set to be announced on January 27. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen has called the deal the “mother of all trade deals”.
Bessent alleged that US President Donald Trump’s administration had taken tougher steps than European governments to pressure Russia to end the war in Ukraine. “Trump has worked to negotiate a settlement on the Russia-Ukraine conflict,” he said, adding that the US has made much bigger sacrifices than the Europeans.
The treasury secretary further claimed that tariffs imposed by the Trump administration on India have led to a sharp decline in New Delhi’s Russian oil purchases, adding that the move has led to a “collapse” in Indian refinery purchases.
“We put 25 per cent tariffs on India for buying Russian oil, and the Indian purchases by their refineries of Russian oil have collapsed. So that is a success,” Bessent told Politico.
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“The 25 per cent Russian oil tariffs are still on. I would imagine there is a path to take them off now. So that’s a check and a huge success,” he added.
Bessent said that India increased its oil imports from just 2-3 per cent before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to 18-19 per cent after the war started, allowing Indian refiners to gain “huge profits.”
Last year, the Trump administration doubled the tariffs on India to 50 per cent from 25 per cent, citing New Delhi’s purchase of Russian oil. The move has soured relations between the two countries. Meanwhile, talks are ongoing to reach a trade deal between India and the US.
