Additional Tariffs On India 'Probably' Played Role In Putin Agreeing To Meet, Trump Says Ahead Of US-Russia Summit In Alaska

US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that the additional tariffs he imposed against India may have played a role in Russian President Vladimir Putin to meet him. "Everything has an impact," he added, saying that secondary tariffs against India "essentially took them out of buying oil from Russia," Trump said during an interview with Fox News Radio.

The statement comes ahead of the summit with Vladimir Putin on Friday in Alaska to discuss the war in Ukraine. This will be Putin's first visit to the United States since 2015, when he met former President Barack Obama.

“Certainly, when you lose your second largest customer and you’re probably going to lose your first largest customer, I think that probably has a role,” he said.

Earlier in the month, Trump signed a nine-section Executive Order imposing a 25% penalty on Indian imports and an additional 25 per cent levy on purchases of oil from Russia, bringing the total tariff burden to 50 per cent. The order stated that India is directly or indirectly importing oil from Russia, which the US considers a threat to its national security and foreign policy.

India responded, calling the measures “unfair, unjustified, and unreasonable” and insisting its Russian oil imports are a matter of national energy security.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told Bloomberg TV on Wednesday, August 13, that the Trump administration was prepared to escalate measures against India depending on the outcome of Friday’s meeting.

“We’ve put secondary tariffs on Indians for buying Russian oil. And I could see, if things don’t go well, then sanctions or secondary tariffs could go up,” Bessent said.

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India Welcomes Russia-US Meet

India last week welcomed the US-Russia meeting and endorsed the upcoming summit describing it as a possible breakthrough in ending the war in Ukraine.

"India welcomes the understanding reached between the United States and the Russian Federation for a meeting in Alaska on 15th August 2025", MEA said in a statement.

"This meeting holds the promise of bringing to an end the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and opening up the prospects for peace. As Prime Minister Narendra Modi has said on several occasions, 'This is not an era of war' India, therefore, endorses the upcoming Summit meeting and stands ready to support these efforts," the statement read.