Stephen Miller says it’s astonishing that ‘India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil’; 120 firefighters needed to put out blaze at Sochi oil depot. What we know on day 1,258
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A top aide to President Donald Trump has accused India of financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by buying oil from Moscow, after the US leader escalated pressure on Delhi to stop buying Russian oil. “What he [Trump] said very clearly is that it is not acceptable for India to continue financing this war by purchasing the oil from Russia,” said Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House and one of the US president’s most influential aides. Miller’s criticism on Sunday was some of the strongest yet by the Trump administration about one of the US’s major partners in the Indo-Pacific. “People will be shocked to learn that India is basically tied with China in purchasing Russian oil. That’s an astonishing fact,” Miller said on Fox News’ Sunday Morning Futures. Indian government sources were quoted by various media on Saturday saying Delhi would keep purchasing oil from Moscow despite US threats.
Trump on Sunday said special envoy Steve Witkoff may travel to Russia on Wednesday or Thursday, as he warned that he would impose sanctions if Moscow did not agree to a ceasefire in the Ukraine war before Friday. “There’ll be sanctions, but they seem to be pretty good at avoiding sanctions,” Trump told reporters. “They’re wily characters and they’re pretty good at avoiding sanctions, so we’ll see what happens.”
