US president says Narendra Modi, India’s prime minister, has given him an assurance; EU to work on G7 leaders about Russian assets. What we know on day 1,331
Donald Trump said on Wednesday that Narendra Modi had assured him India would stop buying oil from Russia. “That’s a big step,” Trump told reporters at the White House. “Now we’re going to get China to do the same thing.” The Indian embassy in Washington did not immediately respond to emailed questions about whether the Indian prime minister had made such a commitment.
Prior to the Ukraine war, India imported less than 1% of its oil from Russia, but this has surged to about 40% as Russia has discounted its oil while the price has been capped by sanctions. Trump said India could not “immediately” halt Russian shipments, calling it “a little bit of a process, but that process will be over soon”. Trump has slapped tariffs on Indian exports to the US, ostensibly because of India’s Russian oil imports – the proceeds of which help Russia fund the war against Ukraine.
Nato’s head, Mark Rutte, said it was “testing integrated systems that will help us detect, track and neutralise aerial threats” as the alliance and the European Union seek to boost anti-drone defences. The EU is debating creating a “drone wall” with possible signoff from ministers at a leaders’ summit next week.
