White House deputy chief Stephen Miller says it was ‘not acceptable’ for India to continue to buy Russian oil.
A top United States official has accused India of financing Russia’s war in Ukraine by buying oil from Moscow, as the Trump administration ramps up pressure on New Delhi to cut off its energy imports from Russia.
“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,” Stephen Miller, deputy chief of staff at the White House and one of Trump’s most influential aides, said in an interview with Fox News.
India is the second-largest buyer of Russian oil, after China, and more than 30 percent of its fuel is sourced from Moscow, providing revenue to the Kremlin amid Western sanctions. New Delhi imported just 1 percent of its oil from Russia before the Ukraine war started in 2022.
Miller’s criticism was among the strongest yet by the Trump administration – which came after the US slapped a 25 percent tariff on Indian products on Friday as a result of its purchase of military equipment and energy from Russia. The Trump administration also threatened additional penalties if India continued its purchase of arms and oil from Russia.
